


As You Grow

by dnawhite76, Prubbs



Category: Batman (Comics), Justice League - All Media Types, Superman (Comics)
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Powers, Car Accidents, Childhood Friends, Childhood Sweethearts, Grief/Mourning, Hurt/Comfort, Loss of children and wife, M/M, POV Multiple, Rekindled love, Single Parents, Survivor Guilt, Widowed, actually talking about feelings, adult emotions about adult things, lots and lots of cute, lots and lots of sad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-10
Updated: 2020-04-28
Packaged: 2021-03-01 01:13:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 59,946
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23056795
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dnawhite76/pseuds/dnawhite76, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Prubbs/pseuds/Prubbs
Summary: After the death of his wife and children, Clark returns to the United States after spending years abroad to reconnect with his friends and their families. And while trying to gather what little remains of his old life and possibly move forward in his grief, he ends up falling into old habits with his first love and best friend, Bruce Wayne.A story about grief and acceptance.
Relationships: Clark Kent/Bruce Wayne
Comments: 74
Kudos: 242





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> _“Grown-ups never understand anything by themselves, and it is tiresome for children to be always and forever explaining things to them.”- **Antoine de Saint-Exupery** , The Little Prince_

Clark had loved Lois from the very first moment that he saw her. 

She had been tall and smart, always quick to rebut, sharp as a tack, and an absolute know it all. Most everyone in their class hated her because it's easier to hate the smart girls than to pursue them. But Clark would watch the delicate wave of her hand as it shot into the air, and he knew without a doubt that she was the only woman for him. 

It took him the entire semester to work up the nerve to ask to borrow a pen-- which she forgot and he used every day until it died. It took two more semesters for them to have another class together and then the entirety of that for him to tell her that he thought she was beautiful. Two days for him to ask her on a date. One hour until he couldn’t help but hold her hand when it brushed against him. Two more dates until he worked up the courage to kiss her and a month before he asked her to he his wife. 

He never once considered any other girl. He never took the warnings that maybe they got married too fast to heart. He followed Lois to the edge of the earth and when she had their first child, he stayed home so she could continue to save the world. He was so proud, a world's worth of pride. And when the guys at the office teased him for being the caretaker, he took it happily and pointed them to her articles and all of the important work that she had done. And continued to do. Even through her second pregnancy when the doctor said she should take it easy, she didn't listen. She told Clark that advice was for normal women and she was not one of them. And Clark trusted her to tell him if and when she needed to stop. 

And when the baby came, he was beautiful and Lois was strong. Like always. Doing impossible things because she was beautiful and smart and the world's biggest know it all. She was exactly the kind of woman who could walk into warzones and prisons and come out unscathed. 

Clark had convinced himself that she was this unstoppable force. That Lois Lane was the one woman in the world who could face no consequences. She was a superwoman and nothing could ever hurt her. 

He was wrong. 

He was awake before his alarm went off, having dreamed about it again. The car on its side of the highway and the officer telling him that she was still inside, that his children were inside. He had just gotten back from an overseas assignment. He had been on the phone with Lois not an hour before listening to her laugh while Conner told him they were going to get him ice cream with everything on it-- which was what always happened when they let Con pick. They hung up when Jon had started crying. And Clark had waited. He waited and showered. Then he waited and called. And when he called a second time, it wasn’t Lois who picked up. 

He checked his phone, he had a few texts, some from contacts for the piece he was working on and some from his friends just ‘checking in,’ on him. Even two years later, not trusting his few words every couple of months reassuring them that he was fine. That he was picking up all of his pieces. That he was learning how to live in a world without them. He had a missed call from his parents. It was just after six in the morning in China so that meant his mother would be around five in the afternoon back in Kansas. His mother would just be getting off of work and if he knew her, he knew that she would be calling again as soon as she got home. He got up and set the small coffee maker in his hotel room, jumping in the shower so that he could wash the dream away. As soon as he was dressed and the curtains were open, coffee in hand he hit dial and settled in. 

“Clark,” his mother’s voice was like a warm blanket, wrapping him with love in a single word. “I was just about to call you.” He chuckled and it felt good in his throat, like cough syrup. 

“I thought I’d beat you to it,” he told her, watching as the sun started rising over the the beautiful outline of Hangzhou. “It’s my favorite way to start my day.” 

“You best stop being so sweet on me before your teeth rot out,” she scolded him, but he could hear her smile. “I just wanted to check on you," she told him, like she always did. Every single phone call. “To see if you were still planning on making it back to the states next week?” 

That one he deserved. He had been traveling since the funeral. He had decided that it would be best just to have one, bury them together because Lois would have wanted it that way. She wouldn’t want to be apart from her children no matter the cost, in any form. So he watched his wife and the two lights they had put into the world sink into the ground and then he went back to the apartment that they had shared together. Through all the reminders that they were gone. Bruce and Diana had stayed, had helped him pack everything into boxes and give it away, letting him keep only what he couldn’t let go of. And after they left, when he was sitting on the couch that Lois had picked out when they first moved to Metropolis looking at all the empty spaces… He couldn’t stay there. So he grabbed his keys and his passport and he left. He spent a few months just traveling, not knowing where he was going exactly, just going. He would remember conversations he’d had with Lois, places she had always wanted to go but hadn't. Something had always come up. Assignments. Kids. Everything. And when he couldn’t think of any more of those conversations he called Perry and told him he was ready to write again. So he kept traveling, reporting on the scenes and in warzones. He met the most amazing people from all around the world and it almost felt like he was becoming himself again. 

But his friends kept calling him, texting him little reminders of everything that he had lost. They walked on tiptoes around him in conversations afraid to send him photos of their kids, or invite him to their weddings because it was just another thing. So he stayed away. But he knew that he couldn’t do that anymore. 

His thirty-fifth birthday was in a week and Bruce and Diana had planned a huge dinner with all of their friends. She was calling it a reunion. And he knew the only reason that she was doing it on his birthday was because he would feel guilty about it if he didn’t show up. “I’m afraid I don’t have a choice this time. Diana is a force that I don’t think I can stand against.” 

“I always liked her,” his mother said with nothing but fondness in her voice, and just for a moment Clark could hear her stop herself from what he knew she was dying to ask. It hung awkwardly in between them and washed away until she finally said, “Well, you make sure you take a minute to come see your family. Smallville is just a little too big without you in it.” 

His throat felt tight. “I doubt that’s possible.” He laughed through it. “But I will, Ma. I promise.” His alarm went off and he pulled his phone away to clear it. “I’ve got to head out. I have a few things to wrap up before I fly out in a few days. Can I call you later?” 

“You better," she told him and they hung up. 

He finished getting ready for the day and ordered a car, throwing his bag over his shoulder and grabbing his camera case. He texted Kong that he would meet him at his apartment before they headed out to the temple to get pictures for the travel magazine article that had asked Perry for his information a few months back. He waited on the curb and scrolled through his messages, checking his email and following up with them before the car pulled up and he gave the man Kong’s address. When he pulled away, Clark opened his unanswered texts. Most of them were from Diana. They all had a group chain that he had silenced forever ago when it kept going off, only popping in when he absolutely had to. So Diana had taken to texting him all of the important details and it looked like everything was important this time. He skimmed it and pushed his glasses up and sighed before he pulled open Bruce’s thread. 

**CK:** I think Diana may have officially lost her mind. I have about twenty text messages asking me very weird and specific questions. 

He wasn’t surprised when Bruce texted him back immediately. He was the only person that Clark talked to on a regular basis since everything had happened. They had been friends since they were kids and Clark had seen him through the death of his first wife and the new divorce of his second. He got stuff that they didn’t have to talk about. But was there when and if he ever wanted to. 

**BW:** I gave her a list of random things that I made up about you. 

**BW:** She hasn’t questioned it yet, but if I die on your birthday, you know who did it. 

Clark laughed and let his phone sit in his lap for a minute, watching the city as it went by. He really was going to miss this. The traveling, seeing places that he never thought that he would in his entire life. And each article and award felt like a love letter to the family that he had lost, that he wasn’t wasting the life they had left him with. 

**BW:** You aren’t thinking about switching your flight to Africa are you? Cause if you leave me with Diana I might have to come hunt you down. 

**CK:** Get out of my head and prepare my godchildren to give me amazing hugs. 

**BW:** That’s what I thought. I /will/ see you on Friday. 

Nervousness fluttered in his stomach at the thought of it, but he pushed through it and tucked his phone back into his bag, thanking his driver. 

-

The first flight was the worst of them, business class from Hangzhou to London. Thirteen hours next to a mother and her infant child that kept giggling and smiling at him. He wished her luck when he got off and the baby smiled at him. He had a two hour layover and stopped to get a deck of cards at the gift shop for Jason who collected them. He had a deck from every place Clark had ever been and he told him in a post card last year he would know a thousand card tricks by the time Clark got back. He checked into his flight and his ticket got flagged so he approached the counter to talk to the stewardess there. 

“Oh, there is no problem," she told him happily, typing his name into the computer. “We just got a call from a Mr. Wayne and he asked to upgrade your ticket to first class.” She printed out his new pass and handed it over. “He also asked for us to tell you happy birthday.” 

Clark opened his mouth meaning to tell her that his birthday wasn’t until Tuesday, but instead he just thanked her and went to wait in his terminal. 

He slept through most of the flight, as much as he hated to admit it, the seat was wonderful and just being able to recline did wonders to work out the kinks business class has put in his back. The stewardess put a hand on his shoulder to wake him when the flight landed and when he turned on his phone he was unsurprised to see that it was still overcast and rainy in Gotham. 

He grabbed his bag and his carry on, pulling his sweater on over his head before he exited into the gate. And it felt different. There was a weight in his steps that wasn’t there before and the feeling that he was walking toward something. His phone was going off as messages started to come in but he left it in his pocket and walked to the arrivals gate. 

He had just stepped off of the escalator when a tiny human attached himself to his waist. He laughed and grinned down at the mess of black hair as bright blue eyes looked up at him with a gap toothed smile. 

“Uncle Clark!” Jason half screamed at him. 

Clark dropped his bag and lifted him off the ground in a bear hug. “Hey, kiddo,” he told him, giving Jason a good squeeze. Jason laughed when he made a show of trying to crack his back and shoved him back far enough to look at him. “You miss me?” 

“Only like every day,” Jason said like it was obvious as Clark put him down. “Are you done running away from your problems now?” he asked and Clark blinked at him. “That’s what Aunt Diana said you were doing. Running away from your problems.” 

Clark pursed his lips, but took the hand that Jason held out for him. “Yeah, I think I’m done for a while," he told him and grabbed his bag. “Now where are the rest of you?” 

Jason led him through the crowd of people talking a thousand words a minute. Clark nodded at whatever he was saying but he didn't really take anything in, his heart beating too fast as the crowd started to part and then they were there. As soon as Jason saw them, he started waving and jumping and Clark was smiling again. His brief moment of dread lifted when he saw his friends in front of him. Tim broke into a smile and ran at him just like Jason had and this time Clark kneeled to catch him. He never thought that he would see him smile like that again after the kidnapping, but was glad to see it was still there and it hadn't completely broken him. Tim clung to him, little arms around his neck and his face in his shoulder. 

"I missed you," Tim said so muffled that he almost didn't hear it. And just like that he was reminded that Conner would be around Tim and Jason's age. Same height. Same hug. 

He squeezed Tim a little tighter. "I missed you too buddy," he muttered and managed a smile when he let go. He pulled Jason over next to him and looked at the two of them all gangly and grinning. "Look at you two. I almost didn't recognize you." 

"I could say the same." Diana towered over them, barely able to hide her smile as she crossed her arms. She helped Clark up and pulled him in hard. "I'm so happy to see you."

"Yeah, well, I guess I couldn't keep running from my problems forever," he told her as he pulled away. She made a face but he didn't have a moment to push at her as a giant came up behind him and put him in a headlock. 

Clark's glasses hit the floor and the booming laugh that could only be Arthur's echoed around the room. "Look who's finally back!"

"Why are you like this?" Clark groaned and pinched his side until he was forced to let him go and Barry helped him up. "Holy hell, how many of you guys came to the airport?" He demanded with a laugh as he hugged his college roommate. 

"Just us," Barry promised. 

"And us." 

Clark looked over and saw his glasses being held out to him. He put them on and there was Bruce standing in front of him with a wary toddler in his arms. He looked exactly the same as he had when Clark had seen him last - right after the funeral. Tall and dark and not exactly smiling at him, but the way that he looked at him always made Clark feel like everything was okay. Barry released Clark and Bruce caught him up in a hard hug while Damian watched from his free arm trying to decide how he was supposed to feel about this strange man hugging his father. 

"Hi," Clark said finally when he let him go. And after a minute he remembered the first class upgrade and punched his arm. "You told the pilot I was turning fifty you jerk. They announced it on the PA." 

Arthur laughed loud enough to echo in the terminal and Diana started ushering them toward the exit before security wandered over. Tim grabbed Bruce's hand and held on tightly as they walked. Jason was like a leech on Clark's leg. Bruce resisted the urge to reprimand him when Clark shook his leg and smirked down at Jay who had almost been dislodged. Once they got outside, Clark grabbed Jason and swung him up onto his shoulders. Tim yanked on his arm and looked up at him, eyes wide and pleading. 

"Hey, Di?" She took Damian who glared at him. "What?" Bruce asked, but Damian just pouted and stuck his face against Diana's arm. He lifted Tim up, but knew that he wouldn't stay up there long. He didn't like being that high, but always wanted to do whatever Jason did. 

"Chicken!" Jason roared when he noticed his brother next to him. 

"That's for the pool only!" Bruce yelped and stepped away when Jay reached to push Tim. Jason's eyes lit up at the mention of the pool. He sighed, he'd been spending too much time around Arthur. "Tomorrow. If you're good." 

Jason hugged Clark's head. "We get to go swimming!" He listened to Clark talk to Jason and Arthur while keeping an eye on Damian. Diana and Barry were discussing his latest case. 

"I want down," Tim said when they reached the parking lot. He pulled him down. Tim ran ahead, but didn't let go of his hand until he had gripped Clark's. Clark smiled down at him and glanced back. He shrugged. They'd missed him. Damian was immediately holding his hands out to be taken back once his hands were free. He took him back and Diana pulled him into the conversation. 

"Clark, you're riding with us," he said before Arthur could drag Clark and two thirds of his kids away. Arthur kept walking with Clark's luggage. Diana took his bag and Clark stared after it. 

"We've got this. We'll see you back at the manor," Diana said and kissed Clark's cheek. 

"C'mon Uncle Clark!" Tim called and started to pull Clark down the aisle to their car. Clark walked a few steps then smirked and glanced over to him. 

"Tim, I don't think I can go on. Jay's too heavy."

Tim started pulling harder, leaning into it until he was pretty sure Clark was the only thing holding Tim up. Clark laughed and took a couple steps still whining about the weight dragging him down. Jason cheered Tim on from his perch on Clark's shoulders. When Tim got to the car, he cheered and Clark swung Jason down back to his feet. Clark looked over to him with a grin. 

"What is this? Bruce Wayne in something other than a sports car?" 

"Sports cars aren't very good if you actually play sports. Even less when you have twins who play the same stick heavy sport and both decided they wanted to also play the cello." He handed Clark the keys without a word. "Seat belts," he reminded the twins as he buckled Damian in. He yanked on Jason's belt and made a face at them. They both laughed. "No yelling, okay? Uncle Clark's ears hurt." 

"Cause they exploded!" Jason said. Tim nodded solemnly. He wasn't ever going to let Dick explain anything to them again. He had to admit that it had worked and they had made it through their first flight without any issues, but them yelling about explosions in the airport wasn't the best idea. 

"Do you want Goliath?" He asked Damian who nodded with a huge frown. He reached behind him to grab the stuffed dragon. Damian hugged it and turned as far as he could away from his brothers and glared. He shut the door and slid into the passenger's seat. He looked behind him where Damian was petting his dragon and staring out the window. 

"Everything okay?" Clark asked. 

"Tim tripped over him earlier. He's mad at them." 

"Glad to see you passed that on." 

"What?" he asked turning to Clark who was adjusting the seat and each of the mirrors. 

"Endless sulking." 

"I don't sulk," he replied and put his arms down by his side before he could cross them. Clark laughed and checked that they all had their seat belts on before backing out. 

He watched Clark hold tension in his jaw as they drove back to the manor. The others would get there first, but this was the one thing he and Diana had argued over that he had refused to budge on. Clark drove. It was a simple fact now. Bruce had seen him have a breakdown after riding with Dick and the girls the day before the funeral. He wouldn't let him go through that again. 

The boys talked quietly to themselves. They hushed each other a few times when they cheered too loud. He smiled as he looked back at them. 

"They're fine," Clark said and looked over to him once they had stopped at a light. "They don't have to whisper."

"Maybe you didn't hear, but your ears exploded." He made an explosion noise and Clark chuckled. "It's better this way. If they start to get loud then Damian will get loud. Somehow he's even louder than both of them." 

"It's hard to believe that," Clark said looking in the rear view. 

"Oh just wait. I bet he has a tantrum by the end of the day." He had been waiting for one at the airport. 

"I can't believe how big he's gotten," Clark said. He glanced back at the three of them. Tim was leaning on Jay as he watched him play one of their games. Damian wasn't staring out the window anymore. His eyes were on him and Bruce could see the wobble of his mouth as he grumbled into his dragon. "They've all gotten so big." Clark's voice went quiet and Bruce wanted to reach out and comfort him, but he knew it would be a bad idea with him behind the wheel. So instead he watched him and stayed quiet. He answered the boys when they asked a question and Clark answered a couple directed his way without looking away from the road. When they pulled onto the manor drive he could see Clark visibly relax. Bruce directed him down to the garage to give him some time to decompress before their friends were upon them again. Selfishly it also gave him more time alone with Clark. 

"We're going to go walk Titus if you want to come with us." Damian was already running over to the door that led outside. The boys were halfway up the stairs to the manor as soon as he'd opened the door. 

"Titus?" Clark asked, following him. 

"Damian's puppy," he answered and opened the door. Damian ran around the corner and he heard excited yips. 

"Bruce. That isn't a puppy," Clark said. The dog was almost as tall as Damian, and a single lick covered Damian's entire face. It was the only thing that made him laugh. He watched him giggle and pet as much of Titus as he could reach through the gate. He grabbed the leash and hooked it on. It took awhile to get him to calm down enough for him to open the gate. Damian held onto the leash with a single hand and they started on their way. Clark looked amused as he joined them. 

"What?" 

"Nothing really, but I'm pretty sure that Damian thinks that he's the one walking him." He chuckled and watched his youngest amble a few steps ahead of them. They turned down the path by the pond instead of circling back up to the house. He knew Clark noticed, but he didn't say anything. They stopped while Titus investigated a tree. He looked out across the pond and the trees beyond it. 

"I've missed it here," Clark said. 

"Well it's a good thing you're back then," he said and clapped him on the shoulder. There was a flurry of movement as Titus reared back and a fox ran out of the hole. He reached for Damian, but Clark had already scooped him up. He pulled hard on the leash and still jerked forward with the force of Titus' lunge. With the fox out of sight, the dog eventually calmed down. He turned back when he heard the second problem. Damian was pushing at Clark's face and yelling. He took him and handed the leash to Clark in a single move. Damian's yelling stopped and he buried his face in his chest. He could feel him trembling. 

"I'm sorry," he said to Clark who was staring at Damian in shock. "It's not you. It's everybody. He won't let anyone touch him except me and Alfred. Oh, and sometimes Diana. 

"You don't have to apologize," Clark said. "He's only met me twice. I doubt he even remembers me." 

"He knows your name. He got really excited with the boys when he heard you were coming. I think you're like Santa to him." Damian looked up suddenly at the mention of Santa. He smiled at him, and looked up when Clark laughed. 

"You were serious about the volume," Clark said. "My ears really _have_ exploded now." 

"Yeah, he's got a set of lungs. I wish he'd use them for something other than screaming." He nodded toward the house and they headed back. Titus still pulling at the leash to smell everything he could. Damian turned and stared at Clark as they walked. 

"Maybe he's just saving his words for something important?" Clark said and opened the gate. Titus ran in and straight to his water bowl. They headed back up. 

"I'm going to put him down, they should all be in the kitchen annoying Alfred." Clark looked down the hall to the kitchen. "They aren't going to attack you." 

"They might," Clark said. 

He heard Dick's laughter echo down the hall. Clark turned to him in a panic. "I thought you said Dick wasn't coming until tomorrow." 

"He must have come early," he said and shrugged. "You have to go in there eventually." 

Clark sighed. "I'm off to the land of hugs and tears. Wish me luck." 

"He won't cry," he paused and considered that. "Much." He headed upstairs and watched Clark take a steadying breath before he walked down the hall toward their friends. He remembered that feeling and wanted to go back and make it so Clark never had to feel it, but he couldn't. 

"Do you feel like a cow or a banana nap today?" He asked. Damian stared at him. "Banana it is." 

When he got back downstairs, Dick was hugging Clark. He hoped he hadn't been hugging him the entire time. 

-

Clark watched Bruce all the way to the top of the stairs before he could make himself head to the kitchen. He could hear everyone in there talking and he knew that they were talking about him as soon as he pushed open the door. The room went quiet and eight sets of eyes looked his way. Alfred just smiled and went back to his cooking, but the rest of them looked Clark over with a silent awe, almost like they hadn't really been expecting for him to show up. 

He cleared his throat and let out a long breath from his nose before he smiled and awkwardly waved. "Hey guys." This was his group, the people who had been there for him no matter what through the years. "Long time, huh?" He said with a half-assed, guilt-ridden laugh. 

Dick was out of his chair in seconds, throwing himself at Clark with such a force that he stumbled as he caught him. Dick was practically off the floor with his arms wrapped around Clark's neck, face buried in his shoulder. Clark relaxed and hugged Dick hard as the rest of the group laughed and came over to punch his arm and hug around them. He hadn't really been dreading seeing Dick, but he was practically his little brother. His little brother with absolutely no emotional filter or need for personal space. 

"I'm sorry," Barbara sighed and rolled over to them, she tugged at her husband's jacket and he came off of Clark just enough so that he could move to clinging to his arm. "He just really missed you."

"He hasn't shut up about you for days," Hal told him like it was a real burden, but he smiled through it. "Been driving us all crazy."

"It's been over two years." Dick sounded exasperated, like they had had this talk without him recently. "He's basically my brother. Give me a break."

"We've all been anxious to see you," Diana said over the argument that was fixing to start. "Come and sit down. Tell us what you have been up to."

Dick refused to let go of him even as they sat down, scooting his chair as close as he could get so he could stay clinging to Clark's arm. It reminded him of Conner after he or Lois would come home from any assignment that took more than a week. He would cling to them and tell them that if they had to leave again, he was coming too. _"I can help!"_ He would tell them and grab the toy camera from his toy box, _"I've been practicing!"_ Clark focused on telling everyone what he had been up to and where he had been. They pressed him for all of the details, but now that he was here with his friends, all of his adventures felt small and insignificant. He just wanted to know about their lives and their families. They shared all of the pictures with Clark that they had been holding back, all of them taking turns in the chair next to him that wasn't Dick's as they scrolled through ablums of their kids. Some of them were with silly things that Clark has sent them over the years, his favorite was a video of Cass in a tutu spinning to a music box he had found for her in Dubai. 

"Where is everybody?" Clark asked after they had done a full go around the table. "Mera, Iris, the kids?" 

Everyone looked away for a moment, and Clark knew immediately what had happened. "We didn't know… if it would be the best idea to…" Diana started. 

Clark held up a hand. "I'm okay. Really," he assured them. "I've had a lot of time to myself and I've spent that time trying to accept… everything. And I'm okay. I don't want you guys to feel like you have to tiptoe around me. Your kids and your partners are my family too and I miss them." 

"I told you," Arthur said pointedly to Diana. Then he looked back at Clark. "I'm calling them now. They can be here by tonight. The boys have been dying to see you." He was up from the table before anyone could tell him not to. Everyone followed suit except for Barbara and Dick who still refused to let him go. 

"The girls are with my Dad," Barbara explained. "They can be here in an hour. We should spend a little more time catching up first." She reached out and grabbed Clark's hand and Dick swatted it away. "Dick!"

"It's still my turn," he whined and Barbara glared at him as Bruce made his appearance after finally getting Damian down. 

"Has he been like this the whole time?" He asked stopping next to his brother and looking down with all the disapproval of a father. He had been half raising Dick since his freshman year of high school. And even though they still fought like brothers and did stupid things together, there was a quiet parental link there--which was why Dick had latched on so tight to Clark as a brother figure. 

"Don't you start. You've been smiling at your phone all week waiting for Clark to come. Plus you text him every day," Dick accused him and Bruce actually looked embarrassed for a second when Clark smirked at him. "And don't even get me started on how bossy you were with the airport- "

"Okay that's enough," Bruce said and pinched him, making Dick let go for the first time since he'd walked in the room. He pinched Bruce back until Alfred stepped up behind them. 

"Please do not quarrel in the kitchen," he said sounding tired with his hands full of plates. "There are many breakable things that I would rather not have to glue back together."

They both muttered apologies to Alfred and Bruce took the empty seat on Clark's other side as everyone started falling back into their place with the news that their families would be heading in as soon as they could get packed. Bruce didn't ask what had happened. He just accepted it as they ate and then started going over the plans for the weekend. 

There was a lot of drinking involved. More than Clark really wanted to have to worry about, but he sat quietly, casting small looks at Bruce that he answered in pointed stares and shrugs. It was all that Clark could do to keep a straight face as he looked at the program that Diana had actually typed out and passed out to them. 

"Isn't this a little…" Clark searched for the word. 

"Extreme," Bruce finished blankly. 

Diana glared at him across the table. "Not all of us get to have Clark for a full month," she reminded him. "So I'm making sure we get the most of our time." 

No one else argued. 

They didn't have much scheduled for the rest of the day, just letting Clark unpack and try to adjust to the new time zone. Dick finally got enough hugs out of him that he was allowed to go up to his room and take a quick nap before everyone else now started coming in. He felt the bed dip and cracked his eyes open just slightly enough to see an infant child with big brown eyes staring at him with the most serious face he had ever seen. A grin broke out across his face despite the deep ache in his chest and the baby turned its head. "Do I'm guessing you are Duke?" He asked and looked up at Dick who was sitting on the bed next to him. 

"Figured you should meet your godson before everyone else gets here." Dick shrugged like it wasn't a big deal. 

Clark sat up. "What?" 

"You _and_ Bruce," he amended. "You've got Cass and Steph too, so don't get too excited yet." He smiled and let Duke crawl over and examine Clark more thoroughly. Clark picked him up and let him pat at his face. "After everything that happened with you, Babs and I decided it was time to sit down and actually talk about what would happen to the kids if anything happened to us. She already had one accident so…" he shrugged and smiled when Duke looked back at him for reassurance. "But you and B have to raise them together. We know Bruce thinks he's superman, but six kids… is a lot of kids," Dick finished lamely and pushed at Clark's leg. "You keep him sane."

Duke pushed at his nose and Clark made a face which made the baby crinkle his nose and smile letting out a small cracking laugh. "How is he doing. Like really?" Clark asked. 

Dick pursed his lips. There was something that he wanted to say but he knew that he wouldn't get it tonight. Dick had always been easy to read. It was why they never let him give any interviews in regards to WE, the reporters could play him like an open book. "He's lonely," he offered. "But he's been a lot better since you decided to stay in Gotham while you look for a new place. Even if you guys talk every day, he missed you the most. You know?" 

He did. Clark swallowed and handed Duke back over to Dick. "I guess we should head down before everyone comes looking for us." He sighed, pushing the blankets down.

Dick handed Duke back when he got up. "He makes a good conversation shield. It's the chubby legs." 

\---

Diana did not look very happy as she stood at the side of the pool. Bruce threw Jason into the deep end and waded over to her. 

"We have a schedule," she said. 

"I know that, but I also have kids." Damian shouted and he checked on him, but he was just splashing Tim and AJ "Why don't you take everyone and I'll watch the kids? Adult time." 

"Because you are part of the adults," she said with a frown. "Alfred can watch them." 

"Dad," Jason said and grabbed his arm. He picked him up and threw him again. Jason flopped, splashing the girls who were trying to braid Garth's hair. They all started bickering, Stephanie and Jason splashed each other every other word. 

"He can't. Go, take Clark, then we'll all be ready for the pier when you get back.

Diana looked like she was going to argue some more, but Mera came out and pulled her away, claiming that if they didn't leave they would lose Arthur to the pool as well. He floated back over to the kids. Damian splashed him with a yell. He watched as the girls destroyed Jason and Tim at chicken. 

Bruce had been woken up by one of Tim's nightmares. It was a little past dawn and Jason had sleepily asked if they could go swimming. He'd let them rest for a while longer, and when Alfred came and told him that Damian had woken up he'd gathered all of the kids and thrown them all in the pool. AJ had helped him throw the girls in the pool until he got bored and challenged Donny to a race. Dick had been the first of the adults up. He'd come down and sat on the edge of the pool. 

"You know you can't avoid us forever," he said and pushed Damian's floaty away. Damian shouted at him and slapped at the water trying to move back to them. 

"I'm not avoiding anything," he'd replied and pulled Damian in. Tim and Cass were having a contest against the wall. He watched them while Dick splashed Damian with his toes. 

"You are. He's worried about you," Dick said. He looked over to him as Cass and Tim surfaced, demanding to know how long it was. 

"You told him there was nothing to worry about right?" He asked. Dick rolled his eyes. 

"If you weren't hiding out in the pool instead of going to eat with your friends, maybe I'd agree with you." 

Alfred came out with Duke strapped to his chest half an hour after everyone had left for brunch. He announced that lunch was ready and all of the kids scrambled to get out of the pool and dried off. Bruce knew Diana would be mad, but taking twenty people to a restaurant when half of them were under the age of ten was just not a good idea. He'd told her that the night before when she had said that her plan didn't have to change just because they'd added people. 

"Master Jason," Alfred called with a tired voice when Jason threw a towel over his head and headed for the kitchen. It took them both another fifteen minutes to get them all dried off and seated. Damian squished his sandwich more than he ate it, but he managed to get him to eat half, which was a feat. 

He sent the older kids up to get changed and helped Damian into his clothes for the day. Tim's hair still smelled like chlorine when he fell into his lap once they all settled to watch cartoons until the others got back.

-

"Is that drool?" 

"I think he's snoring." 

He heard Tim's quiet laugh and cracked open an eye. Clark was leaning over the couch next to his head with a grin. The other kids had gotten up and their parents were getting them ready for their day out at the pier. 

"Sorry," he told him and sat up. He picked Tim up with a roar and got a loud laugh out of him before he set him down and told him to get his shoes. Jason was trying to teach Damian how to tie his shoes while Dick looked on with a camera glued to his face. 

"You looked like you needed it. Hard day at the pool?" 

"I think I threw Jason twenty times? How was brunch?" 

"We were late, so they gave away our reservation. Diana let them know what she thought about that," Clark said and glanced over where Barbara and Diana were talking by the door. "But it was good, I wish that you'd come." 

"How about next week I take you to brunch, just the two of us?" 

Clark chuckled. "Maybe lunch?" 

"Oh. That won't work for me. It's too late." 

"Then breakfast maybe?" Clark said with a grin. 

"Do I look like someone who wakes up for breakfast?" 

"Actually, with your son hanging off your arm and your three year old having a meltdown behind you, yes. You do." He turned and saw Damian with tears in his eyes. Dick looked up at him when he walked over. "He just started." 

Jason looked guilty and he rubbed his hair. "It's okay bud. Damian is just grumpy." 

And he was grumpy until they got to the pier and he saw the giant giraffe at one of the first game stalls. 

He paid for all the kids to play until they had won the giraffe and each of them a stuffed animal. By the time they got to the ferris wheel, everyone was carrying a plush and Dick was complaining about his arms falling off if he had to carry the giraffe any further. Damian whined when he put it down and Dick shoved it into Bruce's arms. "Your son, your burden."

"What happened to him being your favorite nephew?" 

"Tim's my favorite now," Dick said and picked Tim up. "He's lighter than that damn giraffe." Tim hung off of Dick's back as he chased Cass and Steph down to the funnel cake booth. 

"He is really light," Clark said. "Like a bird." 

He looked over at Clark and laughed. "My son has hollow bones now?" 

Clark shrugged. "Have you checked?" Bruce pushed him and Clark stumbled over the giraffe. "Maybe we should put it in the car?" Clark offered. 

"Dick!" He yelled. Dick turned and held his hand up to his ear. "We're running back to the car." 

"Cool. I got these goobers!" Dick tossed Jay over his shoulder. He heard Jason's squawking laugh as they headed back. 

"You look like you're thinking of something pretty serious," Bruce said once they had managed to get the giraffe in the chair. Damian shouted from his stroller when they bent its neck at a right angle, but once it was safely in the back he calmed down. 

"I was just thinking about how two years didn't feel like a very long time, but I missed so much." 

"Even if you had been in the states you wouldn't have been there for everything." He draped an arm over Clark's shoulder and shook him. "I bet if you asked any of the kids what they did while you were gone they'd tell you every story a million times." 

"Stephanie has already told me about her birthday party last year three times. Jason breaking his arm was better than any present she got." 

He laughed. "She made him get a rainbow cast since it was her birthday. They all signed it. I have it, if you feel like you need to see it." 

"You kept it?" Clark asked with a disbelieving expression. 

He shrugged. "I was feeling sentimental. His first broken bone." 

"He wouldn't let you throw it away would he?" 

"He wanted to put it next to his participation trophy for soccer last season." Clark laughed. He'd forgotten how much he missed that laugh. How much he had missed talking about nothing with him. But mostly he'd missed having someone that he didn't have to put a front on with. 

"I'm sure Jay will show me sooner or later."

"Don't smell it."

"What?"

"He'll tell you to smell it with this little shit eating grin. Don't. I don't know what that kid did to it, but it's the worst thing I've ever smelled." 

They got back to the group and managed to separate into even groups for the ferris wheel. Tim sat with Clark, tucked against his side and Damian stared out of the basket with his hands on the rail. 

"He looks like he wants to jump," Clark said, his eyes on Damian. 

"He likes heights." 

"Heights are the worst," Tim said into Clark's shirt. 

"Your dad used to be afraid of heights." Clark grinned at him as he told Tim about the time they'd climbed a grain silo and the fire department had to come because Bruce couldn't climb back down. 

After the ferris wheel, they filled up a quarter of one of the restaurants and got snacks. 

"Did you call her yet, Bruce?" Iris asked. 

"No. Not yet," he replied and focused on Damian. 

"I think you two would really hit it off."

"Is this the Gazette girl?" Diana asked. 

He kept his mouth shut as they started talking about him and his sad love life like he wasn't sitting right there. This conversation was exactly what he'd been trying to avoid by skipping brunch. He felt his shoulders tighten. He knew that they were just trying to help, but he didn't want help. 

"Why aren't you setting Hal up? He needs more help than Bruce," Dick chimed in. Hal looked affronted and the women descended on him asking him for the reason for his and Carol's most recent break up. He offered Dick a smile. When he turned back Clark was watching him. 

Clark helped Dick shift the conversation away from relationships. It wasn’t that he was uncomfortable with it. He wanted his friends to be happy, he wanted them to be in love and to keep pursuing that. But for some reason his stomach twisted when Bruce looked at him and he didn’t want to go back down that road with all of their friends there. He was okay with Bruce dating. But the fact that Bruce hadn’t told him that he was, sat strangely in his chest. He shook it off knowing that there would be time later to talk about it and laughed at something Stephanie said that made Dick’s face go completely slack. 

Half of the kids were passed out in the backseat when they pulled up to the manor, despite insisting that they should stay just an hour longer. He pulled Tim out of the back seat and he wrapped his arms around Clark’s neck as he carried him inside. He followed a barely awake Jason up to their room. They used to have different rooms, but when they kept sneaking into each other's beds at night, Bruce decided just to let them stay together. He helped them change into their pajamas and tucked them into bed. He turned off the light and stood in the doorway for a second watching them before he moved to shut it. 

“Clark?” he stopped and looked back at Jason who was sitting up with blurry eyes in his bed. 

“Yeah bud?” 

“Will you leave the door cracked?” he asked. 

Clark swallowed and made himself smile at him. “Of course kiddo," he promised. “Get some sleep okay?” 

Almost everyone else was back down stairs when he made it back, the only person missing was Dick who had to feed Duke before putting him down. A glass of wine was put into Clark’s hand as soon as he entered the den and he made a face. “Don’t,” Diana warned him. “The kids are asleep and now the party starts.” 

“Aren’t we too old to party?” Clark asked, looking for help but no one else seemed to share his sentiment. 

“You can be too old on Monday," Hal told him and pushed him at the rest of the group that was crowded around the coffee table on the sofas and chairs they had stolen from around the house. 

It turned out that their version of party meant board games. They split into teams and played three rounds of Obama Llama before moving onto Codenames and then Telestrations. After the group went through a few bottles of wine, Hal and Barry brought in a case of beer and a deck of cards and then Diana sheepishly pulled out the handle of vodka she’d stashed in her carry on. They played Blow Me. A game that Clark was notoriously horrible at, and everyone watched as he knocked the deck of cards down time and time again and was pushed to take a drink from the bottle. They played Kings cup and Bullshit, and after everyone was sufficiently drunk they sat in a circle and just talked for hours about things that weren’t even important. 

“Okay, okay, I get it I’m an idiot," Hal said as everyone laughed after he told them about his latest date with someone he shouldn’t have been with. “But why are we focusing on me? Clark is right there and he needs way more help with his love life than I do.” The entire room went quiet and Hal’s eyes got big. “Oh shit. Clark…” 

“No,” he held up his hands. “You aren’t wrong," he said. Because he wasn’t. And even though his chest stung, his blood was pleasantly singing from the alcohol. “Lois is dead. Conner and Jon are dead. It’s been two years and I’m okay, but I don’t know how to move on from that. Or if I’m allowed to?” 

“Do you want to?” Mera’s eyes looked a little watery. She was sitting on Arthur's lap in a big chair at the end of the table holding onto his hand like it was a life line. 

“I don’t know,” he admitted. “It feels like I shouldn’t want to. I’ve only ever had two great loves in my life and now one of them is dead. I feel like it would be different if I still had the boys?” he offered. “But I don’t. And I don’t know if I am capable of making a decision like that just for myself. I feel guilty about it. Just for being alive sometimes.”

“Lois wouldn’t want you to feel like that,” Barbara said softly. 

“Lois is dead. It doesn’t matter what she wanted because she can’t want it anymore.” 

It was quiet again and all of his friends were watching like they thought he might break down. He let out a long sigh and stood up. “Sorry, I’m just tired. I’m going to get some sleep," he told them and took the last shot that was placed in front of him. He headed up to his room, immediately collapsing onto the bed with a heavy groan and hoping that he had drank enough to skip the nightmares. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello and good midnight to you all. Welcome to our new fic. 
> 
> This draft of _As You Grow_ is the third time that we have attempted to write this story and now that we are finally posting it I feel like a big weight had been listed off of our shoulders. This story tackles a couple of really hard subjects, but I think that the most important one here is grief. There are a couple of resons that we wanted to write this, one of them being this amazing [Ted Talk ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khkJkR-ipfw) about grief that I encourage you all the watch. Don't worry, it is a lot less sad than you think it will be and points out the very true and important fact that everyone that you love has a 100% chance of one day dying. And though it is really morbid and uncomfortable, it is something to think about. I personally have lost a very close friend about five years ago now, and I still have moments where I hear a certain song and I just cannot breath because I miss her so much. 
> 
> The song that this fic is named after is one of those songs. I actually got the title lyric tattooed on my arm after she passed. It's a song by my (Prubbs) all time favorite artist, Brandi Carlile called, [_Wherever Is Your Heart_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSZjEN3W7mk). I linked the live version because it is my favorite. Usually I link a cover as well, but I'm not going to do that here. This song is simple and wonderful as it is, so this time you only get one! 
> 
> But since we are speaking about songs, Mama (I am Mama) made a playlist for you! You can follow it [_here_](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2rnel4NYjsMnQogbcEZtj2?si=CWDteywqTbKIGbhG2H8xYg) on Spotify! 
> 
> I'm sorry for being such a downer and I know I'm getting way too emotional writing this-- but it is so important for everyone to experience grief the way that they do. There is no right or wrong way. If you want to curl in a ball in your room and eat cheese for a week, do it. If you want to go to work and pretend you are fine, do it. If you want you watch Dirty Dancing seven times in a row, do it. And if you want to wait five years and write a really sad fan fiction-- _do it._
> 
> As always, we love you and we hope you have enjoyed the story so far. We will see you next week with a new chapter!


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I don't generally do before chapter notes-- but seeing as we are in a global pandemic right now, I feel the urge so say a few words about, idk, life and shit. 
> 
> Don't worry, I'm not gonna get preachy. I barely hit the requirements to be an adult, I am not a doctor or anyone who has important information. I'm just a 26 year old fic writer. I am a person of the world (kinda) so yeah shit is a little scary. And I just wanna say it's okay to be scared? 
> 
> Just remember that as much as you are freaking out-- so is literally everyone else. Do not forget that we all live on earth together and we owe it to one another to try and be decent human beings. Call your grandparents and tell them you love them because this time is going to be the loneliest for them. But other than that, just treat eachother right. Read good fic. And post good memes on Twitter so we can do social isolation right. 
> 
> Wash you hands, enjoy the the chapter, we love you ♡

Clark felt like he had been hit in the head with a hammer when the smell of coffee pulled him out of sleep the next morning. Bruce smirked at him from where he was standing next to the bed holding two mugs. Clark groaned as he rolled over to make room. He pushed himself up against the pillows and Bruce climbed into the bed next to him, handing over the coffee while he sipped his hot tea. 

“I made it weird last night.” Clark said, not asking as he looked up at Bruce. “Didn’t I? Did everyone go home?” 

“Well, technically Hal made it weird,” Bruce offered and grinned when Clark groaned again. “You just ran with it. They did get you drunk, so it’s their fault.”

Clark sighed and sipped at the coffee, willing it to soothe his head ache. He closed his eyes and let the cup sit on his chest. “How mad is Diana?” 

“At Hal-- furious. But that lasted about two seconds. Now everyone is waiting downstairs to look pitifully at you and wait to get you alone so they can tell you how worthy of love you are.” 

Clark choked out a laugh. It wasn’t funny, he knew that it was really, really as unfunny as it got, but he couldn’t help it. Bruce made him laugh. “Is that why you’re here?” He asked. “You wanted to be the first one to tell me what a special snowflake I am?” 

Bruce took Clark’s chin in his hand and squeezed. “The specialist,” he said giving his chin a little shake. Clark swatted him away. 

“Stop,” he whined and pinched him. Bruce chuckled. The laughter died out and Clark's headache moved to his temples. “I hate this,” he said finally and took another drink of his coffee. “I keep expecting to break down and finally feel like she’s gone, but being around everyone just makes me think that if I turn around she’ll be standing there laughing with us. Or I might see her coming through the door. I see Damian and I think that he and Jon should be fighting over that stupid giraffe. And Conner…” he swallowed, unable to finish that sentence. “And I’m _ fine _ . I want to move on, I do. I want to be happy and I am happy. I’m with my friends. I’m happy," he said again mostly to convince himself. “But I’m not happy.”

“I haven’t been happy for seven years,” Bruce told him. “Not really anyway.” He shrugged like it was just another thing. “But I’m working on it. And you get to take all the time you need to keep working on it, because you don’t move on from grief, you just learn how to live around it.” 

He stared at the ceiling for a little while and Bruce let him, leaning back against the headboard as he waited for him to speak. “When did you get so wise?” 

“It’s part of being in the dead wives clubs,” Bruce said so easily that it shocked another laugh out of him. 

“That’s really horrible, do you know that?” 

Bruce shrugged. “I’m allowed to be horrible. And you are allowed to be annoyed at all of your friends tiptoeing around you.” He got out of the bed and held his hand out to him. “C'mon. They’re all waiting and you might as well get it over with.” 

Clark let Bruce pull him out of bed and handed him his empty cup. “I need a shower. And more coffee.” 

“I’ll get the coffee,” Bruce promised and turned to leave but Clark called him back as a little piece of the night before coming back to him. 

“Why didn’t you tell me?” he asked. “About you dating again?” 

"I'm not," Bruce replied. "That's why they are being so…" he took a breath to calm the anger that spiked. "They just keep throwing women's numbers at me hoping one will stick." He rolled his eyes. "I shouldn't have-- Promise me," He looked at Clark who seemed surprised by the sudden gravity in Bruce's voice. "Don't date until you're ready. However long that takes or whoever it's with just don't rush. It's not fair to you or the other person." 

"B," Clark said with a frown. 

"Get ready." He smiled at him. "Pancakes will be waiting with your coffee."

"Alfred's pancakes?" Clark asked looking like a kid again as his eyes lit up. 

"Like I'd let my kids eat anything else." He scoffed. "Hurry up or the twins will eat them." 

Bruce wasn't wrong. When he got downstairs Alfred was making a third batch of pancakes and the twins looked a little like Violet Beauregarde as they sat in their chairs. Even so Jason was eyeing the pieces on Damian's highchair. He tapped him on the head as he passed. Jason leaned back and his hand dropped down from where he had been reaching for one of the pieces. 

"Clark should be down in a few minutes," he told Alfred as he poured another cup of coffee. 

"Master Dick hasn't woken yet," he told him. "I thought I'd send the boys to check on him." Alfred smirked at him. 

Bruce grinned and walked between their chairs. He crouched down. 

"I have a mission for you," he said and both of them turned and leaned toward him with excitement. "Uncle Dick is still sleeping. We don't want him to miss all the fun do we?" They shook their heads. "Why don't you go see if you can wake him up? He sleeps really hard, so you might have to be really loud." They nodded and crept off. Jason grabbed Tim's wrist and they whispered to each other. 

"He's going to get you back for that," Barbara said. He shrugged and stood. 

"He is the worst at revenge." 

"Who is?" Clark asked as he walked in. 

Bruce handed him the coffee cup and answered, "Dick." 

"You send the twins in again?" Clark asked. He cooed over the stack of pancakes that Alfred handed him. 

"I don't know why Dick acts surprised. He sends them in like every time we stay over here." 

"Maybe he actually does like being woken up by them?" Clark offered. 

Bruce and Barbara's eyes met over the table as they considered that. She shook her head. "No. He's not that good of an actor. He looked like he'd robbed a bank when he got home with my engagement ring."

"I remember that," Clark said with a laugh. "Didn't he last like two hours?" 

"I was impressed he lasted that long honestly," she said. Duke gurgled his agreement. "So no. He doesn't like-" Barbara was cut off by high pitched screams and a lone deep  _ 'What the-' _ Bruce started laughing. Diana ran into the room. 

"What happened?" she asked her panic easing when she saw their laughter. 

"Oh that was Dick's alarm clock," Barbara said. The twins ran into the room laughing. They got three high fives as they circled the table. 

Dick stalked into the room after them, his eyes were barely open and he had a serious case of bed head. He grumbled at Bruce, indecipherable nonsense and walked straight to Alfred who had a mug held out to him. Dick drained it and handed it back. He circled around kissed Barbara on her cheek and Duke on his head before stalking back out of the room. 

"So what's the plan for today?" Clark asked Diana. If it had been anyone else she would have asked if they'd even read the agenda, but because it was Clark she just answered him. 

"Spend the day out on the pond. Arthur got the jet skis out." 

"So that's where the Curry's are then," Clark said with a laugh. 

"Hal just dragged Barry down so don't take too long," Diana said and left with Iris and Dawn. 

Dick walked back in with Stephanie and Cass in tow. They both were already in their bathing suits and Stephanie's hair was half braided. 

Barbara laughed and called her over. He watched as she braided it while telling Stephanie that she was getting better. "Can we go down now?" Tim asked tugging on his arm. He saw Jason standing behind him.

"Do you mind bringing Damian down when he's done?" He asked Alfred. 

"Gladly." 

"I've got spare trunks on my dresser if you need them," he told Clark. He got a nod and a thanks before the boys dragged him out of his chair. 

He was contemplating adding a ropes course to the pond with Barry when Clark came down with Dick and the others. He had forgotten that Clark had talked about working out since there wasn't much else to do in hotels sometimes. The red trunks he'd left for Clark as an inside joke stretched across his thighs and he really hoped no one was looking at him as his brain fried.  _ Fuck.  _

"Do what?" Barry said and Bruce blinked. He honestly didn't remember what he was saying. 

"Clark! My man! Looking good!" Arthur called and walked past them. He listened to him praise Clark's physique as only Arthur could. Clark's face was pink, but he looked pleased. Bruce slipped over the edge of the dock and swam out to Mera and Iris where they were sunbathing on the floating platform. He pulled himself up and laid down next to them. His arrival caught their attention and they looked over to the main dock. 

"When did Clark get  _ ripped _ ?" Iris asked. 

Mera sighed. "Arthur's going to be talking about that for the rest of the week." 

"I tried to get Barry to lift some weights a while back, but he runs too much to put on any muscle." 

"Arthur spends like all of his free time in the gym or in the pool," Mera said and rolled her eyes, but he could see the appreciation in them when she looked at her husband. 

"Do you work out anymore B?" Iris asked. He glanced over to her. She was smiling and he knew she didn't mean anything by the question. She never did, but it was irritating nonetheless. 

"Occasionally," he replied. 

"I'm sure you're too busy with the boys and work," Mera said and shot Iris a look. He looked down at his torso, then back to them, they were both looking at him and he wished that he hadn't joined them. 

He heard Diana call out to him and turned. She was on one of the jet skis with Jason, the life jacket covered half of his face and he smiled. 

"Do you want to trade me?" she asked. He agreed, anything to get off of that platform. 

"You having fun bud?" Jason nodded as much as he could. "Where's your brother?" 

"He's with uncle Hal." He looked at Diana. She avoided his eyes and settled on the towel between Mera and Iris.

He steered them away before turning. He revved the engine and heard the women shriek as they were sprayed. He laughed and took off. The pond was only big enough for the two jet skis, and it didn't take long for them to see Hal and Tim. He coasted next to them and watched Hal carefully teaching Tim how to work the controls. 

"You having fun?" he asked Tim. Tim beamed up at him and nodded. Bruce slapped Hal on the shoulder and moved on. When they got back, AJ immediately yelled for his Dad and Jason ran off and joined the other kids. He was left standing at the end of the dock. He could hear the different groups of his friends and their families, but stood there listening as he looked out over the pond. 

"You look like the Sorrows of Young Werther if it had been set on the beach." He glanced over his shoulder and looked back at Clark as he walked up to him. 

"What?" 

"A lone figure standing at the edge of a cliff looking over the hills and mountains. You wrote an entire paper on it. I know you know what I'm talking about." 

He thought back and laughed when he remembered the book and the painting that had been on the cover. He wished he could remember more about it. 

"Your memory is ridiculous," he replied. 

"As you have told me many a time," Clark replied. "You look lonely is what I was  _ trying _ to say." He glanced over to Clark. He was smiling at him, a smile he'd seen many times before. Clark had always been the one there to remind him that he wasn't alone. There to pull him back into himself when he started drifting as the loneliness crept in on him. He let him pull him down to the beach where Alfred and Barbara were sitting with Damian and Duke. Barbara had slid into a tube tied to the dock and was floating with Damian in her lap. He was surprised to see that Damian was tolerating it, but he seemed too fascinated with staring down at the water past the edge of the tube to care who he was with. 

"Alfred told me that Talia was coming to visit at the end of the month," Clark said. 

"She emailed me this morning," he offered. "She's working in Metropolis for a couple weeks so she's going to stay for the weekend. I haven't told the boys yet. She wasn't sure when she'd be coming so I don't want to get them excited for no reason." 

He pushed up off the ground and floated a few feet away. He looked up at the sky. 

"I guess that explains your mood then," Clark said quietly from next to him. Bruce had felt out of sorts all day. Diana had assumed that he was hungover and whispered it to the rest of the group. He should have known that Clark would see through that excuse, or that Alfred would spill the beans. Dick would know as soon as Barbara got within a few feet of him. He was grateful that Dick was racing the other kids across the pond. 

"It'll be fine," he replied. No one had asked why they had gotten divorced. Talia hadn't been close with any of the others. Except for Lois. After Clark left the others had watched Bruce and Talia fall apart and had assumed that was the cause. Grief. And maybe grief was the cause, but it wasn't the fresh wound, but the one that had been festering for five years. 

Bruce had hesitated to tell Clark. He'd pushed it off until the ink was dry, and the movers had picked up the last of Talia's things. Sitting alone in the kitchen, he'd called Clark. It was the first time since Clark had left five months before that Bruce had called him. They'd texted a few times, mostly locations and random updates. But this didn't feel like a texting topic. Clark had answered, his voice rough with sleep. He'd taken a breath then told him, "Talia divorced me." They'd talked for the rest of the afternoon until Clark had told him that he had to go, that he had an interview. They'd texted everyday since that day. 

"Okay," Clark replied. He knew that wouldn't be the end of it, but Clark was letting it go for now. 

They stayed out on the water until about two or three and Alfred finally got them all to agree to come back in and eat before the kid's faces got too red. They had sandwiches and then Clark gave the kids what he had gotten them in China, grinning when their faces lit up. Jason hugged his deck of cards and then proclaimed that he had a trick that Clark  _ had _ to see before running upstairs. Dawn and Donny laughed at their tinker toys. Cass and Stephanie ran to show their mom the trinkets he'd gotten them and AJ and Garth went to ask their dad if he'd taken them back in the water so they could see if their moccasins were really waterproof. 

Tim was looking around at everyone with his hands behind his back trying not to seem too eager. Clark waited for his wide blue eyes to find him before he asked, "You didn't think I forgot about you, did you kiddo?" Tim's eyes brightened and Clark pulled out a used disposable camera completely filled with pictures he had taken while he was away. Tim grinned and grabbed it, hugging Clark around the neck. 

"I wish I could see them now," Tim said wistfully. Clark had always sent Tim cameras filled with pictures from wherever he went. He got them all printed and kept them in a little box under his bed save for the few that Jason had deemed worthy of the wall. Clark loved all his friends' children equally, but he and Tim had always had a special bond. When the twins had been born and Selina had died, Clark took a few months off to help Bruce try to adjust to being a father while also mourning his wife. Lois had understood and brought Conner to Gotham on the weekends to bond with his new friends and help where she could. Jason had been a more fussy child, requiring more attention from Bruce at all times. So Tim went to Clark by default and they just clicked. He always sent Clark post cards of pictures he'd taken himself, asking him about all of the places that he went and what he was looking for. So Clark sent him pictures and told him about why he was where he was. Bruce told him that Tim wanted to travel and take pictures when he grew up,  _ just like uncle Clark. _

"Well, I think we need to do a snack run for the movie tonight," he said scratching his chin like he was trying to think of a solution. "How about you come with me and we'll get them developed?" Tim grinned and nodded wildly.

Stephanie ended up coming too because she didn't trust that they wouldn't forget to her red vines. He spent the entire drive asking Clark about the woven bracelet he'd gotten her, now on her arm with the twelve other bracelets he'd sent over from his travels. He ended up making up a lot of what he told her, not able to remember every detail but he was sure that she was taking every word to heart so he tried his best. 

Jason was pouting when they got back to the manor, decked out in his magic cape with his cards and wand demanding to know where they went. He forgave them when he saw all of the snacks and helped them carry them in. And the kids gathered around him in the kitchen while the adults got the snacks ready, Tim sat in his lap as they went through each picture and what was happening. After everyone had seen them, Clark told Tim to go put them somewhere safe and sent the rest of the kids to the den to help Hal and Barry set up for their movie. 

"You're like a child whisperer," Arthur said shaking his head in disbelief. "Garth hardly ever shuts up and he hangs on your every word. How did you get so good with them?"

It was hard for Clark to keep from snapping at him. He'd  _ had _ children. That's why he was good with them. Just because they had died, didn't mean they had never existed. But Diana had tensed next to him and Clark looked over at Bruce who was raising his eyebrow in a silent question asking if he needed to be bailed out. "I'm Santa," he explained and Bruce laughed while the others stared at him like he was crazy. "I show up when the fun things happen and send them cool presents. I'm Santa." 

"How is that fair?" Arthur asked and the group laughed glad that the tense moment was over. 

Hal and Barry had managed to make the den look like a sea of pillows and blankets. All of the kids fought for the perfect spot, but Stephanie grabbed him before any of the other kids could and snuggled into his lap in the corner of the couch, above everyone else. They watched Jurassic Park because half of the kids had never seen it. Stephanie was hiding in his shirt for half of it and Bruce jumped at the velociraptor scene. Clark grinned at him and put his arm over the back of the couch behind him, welcoming Bruce into their bundle and he watched the rest of the movie sandwiched between them. 

The kids demanded to watch something less scary and Iris suggested they all sleep down in the den, so they ran to get ready for bed while the adults set it up to accommodate them. 

"I can't believe you still jump at Jurassic Park," Clark teased Bruce as they placed another blanket on the pallet they were making. 

"It's scary," Bruce told him like he wasn't a multimillionaire businessman. Just the same kid who he'd made out with at the drive in his senior year in highschool. He hadn't meant to. Bruce had said that he'd never seen Jurassic Park and they were showing it. He'd freaked out and leaned into Clark and somewhere in the midst of all of the dinosaurs and the jumping, something warm and happy rattled in his chest and he knew that he just had to kiss him. It had been his first kiss. His very first. And some days it was still his favorite. 

If Bruce was thinking about that, he didn't mention it. The kids came swarming back in and someone put on a Disney movie. They made sure the kids were settled before they shut them in and headed to the kitchen. No one made Clark drink that night, they just made sure the kids were good and started drifting towards their room. Bruce walked up with him, laughing about something stupid and just for a fraction of a second Clark thought about kissing him. It would have been so easy, just to reach out and pull him in. Bruce might have even kissed him back-- but that was a lifetime ago, and Clark wasn’t sure it was something that they could fit back into. No matter how appealing it was sometimes. 

"Good night, B," he sighed finally and Bruce nudged his shoulder before he turned down the hallway. 

"Clark," he called when he'd opened the door and Clark looked up from his thoughts. Bruce tapped his watch and smiled at him. "Happy Birthday." 

-

"Dad?" Bruce hummed and rolled over. "Can we sleep in here?" He shifted over and pat the bed when he saw Tim holding on to Jay's arm in the doorway. Tim moved before Jason did. He immediately climbed in and buried his face against his chest. He shifted the covers so that they were over him and watched as Jason climbed in the other side. 

"You okay?" he asked. Jason nodded and laid down. Tim didn't say anything, but shifted closer. 

He had worried that the den was a bad idea, but the kids had seemed so excited. He listened until they both fell back to sleep then let himself drift. It felt good having everyone around again. It felt like the early years when they were all still in Gotham. When Mera and Arthur were seesawing between panicking and cooing over every little thing that AJ did. Or when Iris was smiling, but so tired, and spent hours complaining to Selina about how much trouble twins were and how she had a lot to look forward to. When Clark's smile didn't have that touch of sorrow to it, even as he laughed. 

Jason grumbled in his sleep and kicked him and Bruce wondered how different his life could have been. If he hadn't listened to what all of the articles said and had done what he wanted. If he'd told Clark that they would make it through long distance, even if they had to go back to writing each other letters like they had when they were kids. If he hadn't let him go, if Lois hadn't raised her hand in Clark's first class, if Selina hadn't literally run into Bruce a few hours after he had heard all about how amazing  _ This Girl _ was. It had felt like fate. Like the universe was giving them both a second chance at a love so epic it consumed… everything. 

When he thought about it, sometimes Bruce wondered if fate wasn't a little pissed off at how happy they'd been with what it saw as their second choices. If maybe that was why it had taken them away. But what did that mean now? Clark had been looking at him all night with eyes that he hadn't seen in almost twenty years. Bruce laid between the boys and wondered if maybe fate didn't think it was clever as it brought them back together now. He just wished that it hadn't taken them both getting their hearts ripped from their chests for it to happen. 

He also wished that he didn't feel so guilty. He'd seen it, when they were walking back to their rooms, he'd seen Clark's eyes dip for just a second to his mouth and in that moment he'd wanted to kiss him, but a wave of guilt had hit him so hard the second following it that he'd collapsed to the edge of his bed as soon as he'd been alone. If they got back together, if they finally accepted the life fate wanted for them, did it mean that their lives up to that moment were a mistake? That he hadn't loved Selina, or Talia? That Jason and Tim, Damian-- that Lois and Conner and Jon, had been just a prelude to get them to the life they should have had? 

He fell asleep dreaming of the life that could have been, while grieving the life he had lost. 

-

Tim climbed into Clark's lap after breakfast and didn't leave it until well into the afternoon. When Jason said he wanted to go play a game in their room, Tim let him tug him up the stairs. Bruce watched them go, but tried not to look too concerned as everyone else moved and joked around him. They didn't have anything planned for the day of Clark's birthday. Diana had set up a dinner for the adults that night. Jim was coming over to help Alfred with the kids. 

Garth and the girls were decorating cupcakes. Arthur and AJ were out on the water, while everyone else was watching movies in the living room. He moved between the groups. He taught Stephanie how to make a flower on her cupcake. He played Seven Degrees of Separation with Barry while the others half watched Indiana Jones. Only after Tim had abandoned Clark's lap did he sit down next to him. 

"Rough night," Clark said. 

"Rough week," he answered. "I don't know if it's the end of school, or all the people in the house, but he's been having nightmares almost every night. I'm just glad Jason woke him up last night before he woke up the other kids." 

"You don't look like you got any sleep either," Clark commented. 

"I didn't," he replied. He focused on the movie for a moment as Indy walked into the castle talking about tapestries. "Did you?" he asked. Clark's eyes had the same tired look that he had seen in the mirror that morning. 

"I slept some," Clark said. 

"Hey B? Damian is calling for you," Dick said. 

"Duty calls," he said and pushed up out of the chair. "I think I might nap with him. To get ready for your birthday celebration." He shook his hands and smiled. 

"That doesn't sound like such a bad idea." 

He didn't expect Clark to follow him to the kitchen or to talk to Damian the entire way up to Bruce's room. He set Damian down on the bed and he immediately crawled into the middle, plopped his head on a pillow and closed his eyes. 

Clark chuckled. "I wish I could live like him."

"How so?" he asked as he sat on the edge of the bed. Clark sat on the other. He didn't know why this felt so suffocating, he'd sat closer when he woke him up the day before. 

"Scream when I'm not happy until someone fixes it. Never have to talk to anyone. Have you carry me everywhere." Clark grinned as he added the last part. 

"You like talking to people too much," Bruce replied. "And Damian here has both Wayne and Al Ghul stubborn genes. If he really doesn't want to talk I think he might just stay silent through his graduation. You couldn't even give me the silent treatment for an entire day." 

"Speaking of," Clark sighed and tapped at his lap in a random rhythm. "We never actually got around to talking about Talia coming." Bruce stared at the sleeping baby to avoid looking at him. "You wanna start? Or should I?"

Bruce didn't say anything, his gaze still on Damian as his face settled into a frown. Clark knew that Bruce had a lot of complicated feelings when it came to Talia. He also knew that he still loved her, at least in a way. They'd had a great relationship for the most part. They met a few years after Selina and she had walked right into Bruce's world knowing exactly what she needed and what she wanted from him. And Bruce had needed that, someone to take control for a little while. The boys had loved her, and she wanted so badly to be a good mother to them that she would call Lois every other day, asking dozens of questions. She was one of the first to call after everything. Even now that she wasn't with Bruce, she had called a few times to check on him. See if he was okay. 

He cleared his throat. "I spoke with her a few months ago," he admitted when it was clear Bruce wasn't going to say anything. His eyes shot over to him instantly and Clark shrugged apologetically. "She called when I was in Prague. She'd found something of Lois' in her things and thought I might want it." 

Bruce swallowed, expression completely changed at that. "Oh."

"She sounded different from the last time I spoke with her," he told him. "Sad. She even made small talk with me so that she could stay on the phone a little longer."

Bruce sniffed a laugh and shook his head. "That doesn't sound like her at all." 

"I didn't think so either," he agreed. He stood up and shoved his hands into his pockets. "But she told me that she misses you. Misses the boys. And I know that she left, but she's still here. And if she is coming back… maybe hear her out?" He walked back over to the door and looked at Damian still sleeping. "You guys were good together."

They didn't talk about it when Bruce came back downstairs a few hours later, dressed in a suit for dinner. Arthur and Hal teased him but the ladies ushered them all upstairs to get dressed before Jim showed up. Clark took his time, wanting to be alone for just a minute to collect his thoughts. He had been surrounded all day by people and hadn't had a moment to himself to just feel the emptiness of being there. The last time he'd been in this home was right after Damian was born. Lois was newly pregnant and everyone was so very happy. The problem was that they still were. And Clark felt so guilty for feeling a little piece of that for himself. 

He pulled on his suit jacket and adjusted his tie before he headed down into the wolf whistles and jeers from the group. Arthur got to Clark before Bruce could and insisted that he ride with them. It was horrible and choppy and he spent most of the ride gritting his teeth and wishing for it to be over. He was still tense when they walked into the restaurant and were shown to a large empty table in a private back room. They had been the first car to arrive, and as soon as Bruce and Diana entered he made a bee line for Clark. 

"You lived?" He asked under his breath. 

Clark shot him a look. "I'm drinking this entire bottle of wine before we head back," he warned him and poured himself a glass well past the serving limit. 

No one else seemed to notice how tense he was, all of them were too preoccupied by the conversation. Clark was the youngest of the group besides Dick and Barabbas, so he had been the last of the old men to turn, and they were all reminiscing about birthdays past. 

"My best birthday?" Clark repeated when he was asked feeling a little better with wine in him. He laughed when he thought of it. "Five years ago, my thirtieth when we all tried to get together but there was that big storm that canceled all flights into Metropolis?" They all nodded and a few groaned as they remembered. "Lois was convinced that she still had to make it special. So she set out on a mission. She bought my favorite wine, and got a scary movie and a record I'd been wanting. And this was around the time where Conner couldn't sleep through the night so she convinced her parents to take him. It was just us for the evening and she implied that many dirty things would be done-" They all laughed. "-only she hadn't had a decent set of underwear since the pregnancy and she was convinced that we couldn't have a good night without it. So she ran to the mall and then it started to rain, and she couldn't drive back in the rain so I went to get her. It took me maybe two hours to make it there in traffic and by the time I was there the storm hit and they were keeping everyone in the building." 

He laughed thinking about it. The power was out in the mall that was almost completely empty save for the few brave souls like his beautiful wife who had desperately needed something only they could provide. 

"I found her in Victoria's Secret crying as she held onto this lace thing that couldn't even be underwear. All of the machines went down with the storm and all she had was a card. So she had gone all that way and she couldn't even buy it." His laughter trailed off when he thought about seeing her there in that ridiculous state. He had loved her so much. "She looked so beautiful with her nose all red, her eyes so freaking blue." Diana's eyes had gone all shimmery and Iris was wiping at her face. Bruce grabbed onto his hand under the table and he snapped back into himself. "So we left the underwear with the cashier and snuck into a dressing room and," he shrugged and grinned shyly. "I told her I didn't care about her underwear." 

Arthur pushed him from his other side and the whole table laughed even though half of them were crying. And Clark let out a sigh because it felt good to talk about Lois. Good to be honest. "God, I miss sex," he sighed when they were all coming back down. "Please tell me that you still have it," he said looking at all of his coupled friends.

"All the time," Arthur said proudly. Mera pinched him. 

"When we can," Iris said modestly, blushing a little as she grabbed Barry's hand. 

"We have a six month old," Dick sighed sadly. "So… it's been a while." Every woman at the table looked like they wanted to tell him exactly what a damn shame that was. 

"I get around," Hal shrugged and they all spent a few minutes rubbing him. Diana just grinned. Bruce just glared everyone down until they skipped him and then Arthur ripped off the bandaid. 

"How long has it been, anyway?" 

Clark made a face. "Since before Jon was born," he admitted. Arthur and Hal looked straight up appalled. "We had a great sex life," he told them before they could jump to any conclusions. "But the pregnancy was really hard on Lois and it took her longer to recover than we thought." He shrugged and left out how they had been fighting a lot. Lois was deep into postpartum depression and resented being with the kids while Clark was out on assignment. Then she would feel horrible for being jealous and that would start the cycle over again. They were just starting to come out of it. Lois had been booked for an article overseas and Clark was going to take the time off-- but then the accident…

"Dude…" Hal shook his head, "you need to get laid." 

Barry punched him and everyone hissed at him to shut up. 

Clark just shrugged it off. "I'm not that kind of guy. It's about love for me. But… that doesn't mean I don't miss it." He sighed and hung his head, pulling everyone back in to laugh.

-

It was relieving when everyone started to leave one family at a time. They all took turns giving Clark long and hard hugs, telling him words of reassurance that he didn't need as the adults took turns packing their cars to go. 

The Currys left first and then Hal, they had the furthest to go. The twins held onto Clark for a long time before Barry and Iris could pry them off and left before they had a breakdown. Dick, Barbara, and the kids went to go visit with Jim before they were off to Bludhaven. Then it was just Clark, Bruce, and Diana left. They sat at the table with a teapot between them waiting until it was time to take her to the airport. Clark mostly just held onto his. He had never been a big fan of tea. But it was nice to sit in the comfortable silence, just the three of them for a moment. 

"When does Steve come back?" Clark asked finally. He had been overseas for most of the time that he and Diana had been dating. But that didn't stop her from being crazy about him. 

"Two months," she said with a small smile. "I would really love for you to meet him."

"I can't wait," he told her sincerely and they spent the rest of the time making plans. 

Diana hugged him tightly when her car came and fixed him with a hard look. "The next time you ignore my calls, I will come hunt you down," she promised and then hugged him again as he laughed and squeezed her back. 

She kissed Bruce on the cheek and squeezed all of the boys, then Clark saw her out the door. As soon as it shut behind her he leaned against it and let out a slow breath. For the first time all weekend, he felt like he could really breathe. 

-

The boys were upstairs in their room, Damian was down for his nap, and Bruce didn't know what to do. When Diana had first gotten there he'd felt the same. It had been so long since he'd been around his friends for anything more than a dinner that he had forgotten how to act. And nearly a week later, he felt the same. He had been stressed having them in his space and around, but now he missed them. But there was still one left. He found Clark in the kitchen talking to Alfred, catching the older man up on everything that he'd been doing since he left. Clark hesitated for a moment when he sat down across from him, but Bruce shook his head and he went back to spinning his tale. 

He'd gotten good at that. 

Telling stories. 

Jason and Tim had been engrossed in hearing every word and he found himself mesmerized by the excitement that Clark was able to entwine with the mundane. But he also could see the happiness that he was trying to force into it as well. Clark's stories didn't used to be like that. It was how they had become friends in the first place. He'd met Clark when happy was the last thing he'd felt, but as Clark taught him baseball and told him about things that he had done with his friends Bruce had absorbed some of the joy that had filled Clark until it was spilling over the brim, splashing anyone who got close enough. 

They'd grown up, and that joy had waned some, but now Bruce missed it. He missed having that to rely on. And he knew that that wasn't fair, and he wouldn't ever tell Clark, but he missed it nonetheless. He wondered if there was anything that could bring it back. Or if that joy of life was gone. 

"So what do you have planned for the week?" Clark asked after a couple more tales. Alfred had joined them at the table with a pot of tea and some sandwiches. They were Clark's favorites, though he didn't think Clark had ever said that out loud. 

"I'm off until next Monday, so nothing vital. Although I'm sure the boys have ideas. And I know that we're going to the-" he looked at Alfred. 

"Bodily fluids," Alfred supplied. 

"Exhibit at the children's museum." 

"Bodily Fluids?" Clark said with a grin. 

"Jason," he replied. "It's a giant body. You walk through the cells like blood and I don't know. He was really excited about it and got Tim excited, so we're going. Do you want to learn about bodily fluids with us?" he asked. 

"Sure," Clark replied. 

After they finished the tea and Clark ate all but two of the sandwiches, Alfred shooed them out of the kitchen so he could start on dinner. He felt like he was back in school with Clark's smiling face looking over at him as they were shut out of the room.

"How's he doing?" Clark asked. He had been waiting for that. The last time they'd spoken Alfred had been struggling with a bout of pneumonia. Bruce had been worried, but tried not to let it show. He'd never been very good at hiding that from Clark though. 

"He's-" he hesitated. "-better. He won't stop working even though I told him he didn't have to. I think he likes having his days busy." 

"Dad! Can we go swimming?" Jason was already in his trunks and Tim was halfway down the stairs in his. 

"I can watch them," Clark offered. 

"Alright," he said and Jason grabbed Clark's hand to pull him out to the pool.

-

They didn't get to the museum until Friday. They got packed up and headed out. Damian was in a good mood for once, he had laughed at a face Clark had made at breakfast and he was pretty sure Clark had almost cried. But he just made the face again and Damian laughed again. Breakfast ended up being them all making faces trying to get Damian to laugh at them, and while he hadn't laughed at anyone else, he hadn't stopped smiling either. 

"You have your son on a leash," Clark said. 

Bruce looked down at the monkey wrapped around Damian's torso then to Clark. "Yep," he replied. "He likes to look at everything all at once. This has saved a few meltdowns. And I haven't lost him." He forced a smile and took Tim's hand as they crossed the street. Jason was on Clark's back narrating everything that he saw to Tim. 

There weren't as many people as he had expected, but it wasn't empty. He could hear the low roar that always came with any number of small children. He paid for their tickets and let Tim's hand go when Jason tugged them into the tip of the finger. 

"See," he said looking back at Clark as he rushed to catch up with his kids. 

They calmed down by the time they got to the chest cavity and he was able to read a few of the plaques to them. Clark took the twins into the heart while he and Damian touched things in a box that had him wanting to wash his hands and Damian absolutely mesmerized. 

"Jason asked if there isn't a bone how the heart could break," Clark told him while they watched the three of them playing a game with faux stomach acid. 

"What did you tell him?" he asked. 

“I told him it was a figure of speech.” Clark shrugged watching as Jason tried to pick Damian up so he could see the top of the table. “I don’t think he understood what that meant so he asked if we could go to the library after this?” He raised an eyebrow and Bruce chuckled. 

“He doesn’t like asking questions about his questions," he said a little proudly. 

“That Wayne stubbornness.” Clark poked his side and Bruce yelped out a laugh and shoved him back. Tim looked back at them, his eyes lit up like something amazing was happening. Clark cleared his throat and smiled at him, welcoming Tim to run up and grab his hand so he could pull him to the next part. 

Damian ended up breaking down when they got toward the end. He screamed when another kid bumped into him when they got to the butt that had a slide back to the main floor. Bruce took him down to the main floor and left Clark with the twins to finish the exhibit. When they reached the main floor, Damian was mostly settled, laying on Bruce’s shoulder, as he frowned sleepily at what was in his line of sight. 

“Do you want to take him home? I can take the twins to the library," Clark offered. Bruce looked like he wanted to deny it, but Damian sniffled and he accepted without further pushing. 

Bruce dropped them off at the library and promised that he would be back an hour later to pick them up. Jason seemed to take the time limit as a challenge and immediately headed off to figure out what a figure of speech was, while Tim stuck close to Clark, holding his hand as they walked through the aisles. They pulled out a couple of travel books and walked over to one of the reading tables, Tim hopped into his lap as they flipped through it. He stopped every once in a while to ask if Clark had been to a few of them, but pressed forward, lost in the images. 

“Clark Kent?” 

He looked up to see a pretty blonde looking at him like she had seen a ghost. It took him a moment to recognize her, the last time he had seen her over four years ago on some assignment about the Queen family. “Vickie?”

She smiled at him and he lifted Tim off his lap, stepping to the side of the table as he continued with his book. “I thought that was you,” she said and smacked his arm. She paused for a moment when she felt how firm he was and cleared her throat. “How have you been? I meant to reach out after the funeral, but I wasn’t sure what to say.” 

Clark nodded, he got that. He liked how direct Vickie was, not hesitating on the bad, just accepting it. “There really isn’t anything to say," he agreed. “But I’ve been traveling. And writing. I just got back to the states two weeks ago, staying with Bruce Wayne.” 

“I forgot the two of you are old friends.” She nodded. Her sharp eyes looking over at Tim who was still wrapped up in his book. “I should have known when I saw that cutie. I assume Jason is around here as well?” 

“Somewhere.”

She laughed even though it wasn’t funny. “So are you staying? In town that is.” 

Her hand ran down his arm and he had to force himself not to run from it. “Only for a few weeks," he offered when his brain came back to life. “I’m apartment hunting back in Metropolis. But I thought I would spend some time with the kids. Maybe stay through the holiday and go visit my family in Kansas.”

“We should get coffee while you are still here,"she told him and reached into her purse to dig out a card before handing it over to him. “Sounds like there is a lot for us to catch up on.” 

“Uh, yeah. Sure.” He nodded and she squeezed his arm before moving on to the reference section. 

Jason found them right before Clark went looking for him seeming pleased with himself as he continued the conversation about broken hearts like they had never left it off. Bruce was waiting outside when they walked out and switched seats with Clark without question. He was quiet on the way back to the manor and the kids ran out of the car and into the kitchen. 

“How horrible were they?” Bruce asked and Clark frowned. “You haven’t said anything since you got in the car.”

Clark sighed. “I ran into Vickie Vale," he admitted and pulled her card out of his pocket. “I think she was flirting with me?” 

Bruce looked impressed. “She wrote her cell on the back,” he pointed out. “With little hearts.” 

Clark groaned and Bruce laughed at him. “I didn’t even notice that she was flirting with me. And I agreed to coffee. What does coffee mean now?” 

“I think that’s a date,” Bruce said struggling to hide his amusement.    


“I don’t know how to do this anymore,” he grumbled and headed toward the kitchen. “And I don’t want to go on a date with Vickie. She’s touchy and pushy and-” 

“-exactly your type,” Bruce finished. Clark blinked at him. He laughed again. “Come on Clark, Vickie is blond Lois. Maybe she’s a little more… promiscuous, but she’s very much your type.” 

Clark rolled his eyes. “How can I even have a type? I only ever dated you and Lois-- the two of you are about as opposite as they come.” He shook his head and moved past that as quickly as he could. “Anyway, I don’t want  _ another _ Lois. I just want to find an apartment and live like a hermit for the rest of my life.”

"The hermit life would work better if you didn't have to work to pay for rent." 

Clark sighed, "I know." 

Bruce looked at him and wondered if Clark would say yes to the question that had been rattling around in his head since Clark first mentioned coming back to the states. He shook his head. Clark deserved to get out there and back to the life he wanted. Even if Bruce didn't want him to leave. 

Jason walked back in. "If I got a broken heart would I be able to stay home from school?" 

"It's summer," Bruce pointed out. 

"I know that," Jason replied. "Would I?" 

"No buddy, you'd still have to go to school," Clark told him. Jason frowned at him and looked at Bruce then back to Clark. 

"Daddy stayed home from work when Mama left," Jason pointed out. Bruce winced. 

"Are you in love Jay?" Clark asked.

"Ew, no." Jason's face made Bruce laugh and Jason grumbled and pushed at his face. "Are  _ you _ in love?" 

Bruce's eyes flicked to Clark before he could stop himself. He felt lucky that Clark wasn't looking at him, but was focused on Jason. "No buddy. I'm too old and my heart is too full of my love for you and your brothers." Bruce grabbed Jason and pulled him in. Jason squealed as he kissed his cheek and tickled him. 

"Do you have any more questions?" He asked when Jason finally escaped. Jason shook his head and ran off to tell Tim whatever he'd learned. He knew Tim would be back later to ask questions that they had, since Jason wouldn't. 

"If you're too old, then I'm too old," Clark said and looked at the card again. He moved to grab it and Bruce snatched it away before he could. He knew that he was going to throw it away. 

"Just go get coffee with an old friend." 

"I can already do that here with you and I don't have to put on real pants." Clark smirked at him and Bruce laughed, but his heart thudded heavily. 

"Put on your big boy pants, go drink inferior coffee, and catch up with Vicki. She has all the gossip that you've missed." He held the card out to Clark. "If you go and hate it, I won't bother you and I'll make sure the others stay focused on my lack of love life instead of yours." 

Clark took the card and looked at him before sighing and pulling out his phone. 

Bruce tried not to stare too hard as Clark laughed at something Vicki said and they worked out the details, which wasn't that hard since Clark was completely available. 

"That wasn't so bad," Bruce said and felt like he was reassuring Damian after his latest round of shots. 

"It wasn't. Are you sure that you'll be okay without me?" 

"I managed two years. I should be able to last an hour." He pat Clark's shoulder and headed up to check on the boys. He needed a moment to get his traitorous heart under control. Tim was playing a game and Jason was reading with his feet up on his headboard. Alfred would tell him to move them, but he let them be and went to check on Damian. 

Damian sat down in the middle of his room as soon as Bruce opened the door. 

"You know you're not supposed to climb out," he said. Damian looked at him innocently. Bruce rolled his eyes. "Do you want to work with me?" Damian followed him to his office and settled under his desk with Goliath. After a few minutes he gave Damian a report to review. Half an hour later he got the report back with crayon scribbles over it. Damian had also signed the bottom of every page. "That's a lot of changes bud," he said when Damian looked at him, waiting for a response. "I like it though." Damian nodded and sat back down.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Over the years, DNA and I have made a routine about posting fics and chapters. Generally, it goes something like this; 
> 
> -I, (Prubbs), do the rough read of the full fic and separate it out into chapters. I go back and actually read it, catch a few spelling errors and when we say "He" too many times and add names in.  
> -DNA then does a full edit of the fic. Like actually checking facts and fixing the words I mess up because I am the _worst_. (But no like really I don't know why she bothers to write with me because half of what I say is gibberish)  
> -I make the fic draft and write the summaries, set up the posting schedule and stress out about tags.  
> -Then DNA goes in and makes all of the chapter drafts as things get done. 
> 
> Now I am sure, if you have read our fics, and the authors notes of our fics, you know by now that I, (Prubbs), generally write these out. But-- since DNA makes the chapter drafts, this fucking looser who is my best friend leaves me these dorky ass nerdy little notes. And when I got on to write the authors notes this week, everything I was going to say just disappeared because, let's be honest, what DNA left is just *chefs kiss*.
> 
> _"Minor Chords_  
>  (get it? sad notes?) - DNA
> 
> God I hate (love) her.


	3. Chapter 3

Clark leaned over and showed him an apartment listing. 

"You said you didn't want to live above a restaurant," Bruce said.

"It's affordable," Clark said even as he backed out of the ad. "I don't remember Metropolis being so expensive," Clark mumbled as he kept scrolling. 

"You complained about it for the entire first year you and Lois lived there." 

"That apartment was awful."

"Weren't there stairs to get to the toilet?" 

Clark laughed. "No that was our second apartment. The first one was the one with the shower in the kitchen."

"I forgot about that," Bruce laughed. "Lois was so mad at you. She ranted to Selina about how she was never going to let you pick apartments ever again."

"I thought it was a pantry! Why would there be a shower in the kitchen? And she's the one that picked the toilet throne."

"At least it wasn't as bad as Diana's apartment," Bruce said and smiled. 

"The one where her mattress barely fit and she had to lift it to open the bathroom door?" 

"The first time we went over Selina got locked in because the mattress fell and no one noticed." He remembered getting ready to leave and realizing that Selina wasn't there. When they had finally found her she was sitting on the toilet and painting her nails. She gave him shit for a month.

"I don't know how we didn't hear her, we were only like three feet away, standing in the well, the entire apartment." 

"The train I think?" 

"No, that was our fourth apartment. I used to use the trains as an alarm." 

"I miss everyone's crappy apartments." 

"No, you don't," Clark said with an amused laugh. "You always looked a little scared to walk into them. Eyes flicking all over the place like something was going to jump out and attack you."

"Well when the building looked like it should have been condemned in the 70's, yeah I'm going to be a little concerned." 

"I liked our weird ass apartments." Clark leaned back. "We had to learn how to live there. Like one of our apartments you had to turn on the kitchen sink to get hot water to the shower. It was an adventure." 

"Then pick that one," Bruce said pointing at the walk in closet that was being rented out. Clark elbowed him and kept scrolling. 

Clark marked a couple apartments that were at the top of his price range. He kept adjusting the price bar further down and Bruce could see him mentally doing the math. 

"Keep scrolling," Bruce said. Clark looked guiltily up at him. "Don't give me that look, that is a curtain."

"I don't need my own place, I could just rent a room."

"Then why don't you just stay here."

Clark blinked at him. "You don't really want that," he told him with a shake of his head. 

"Don't tell me what I want." Bruce rolled his eyes and pushed his shoulder. He kept his eyes fixed on the cooking show they were watching. "You are my best friend, and believe it or not, I _like_ having you around." He smirked as he glanced over at Clark but then frowned back at the TV. "The boys like having you here too." Clark knew there was more to that but he decided that it wasn't the right time to push. 

They didn’t talk about Clark moving for a week, enjoying the summer and meeting up with more acquaintances he had lost touch with over the last two years. Not long after talking to Vicki, he got a call from Mario Ito asking if he was looking for local work. He left three messages that Clark ignored along with Perry and Jimmy's asking when he was coming back to Metropolis and if he'd ever thought about writing a book. And he might as well add those messages to the ones that his mother was leaving him asking when he was coming to visit. 

Clark didn't know what he wanted. It was hard to want anything at all. There were pieces of him that still felt raw in the middle. Like he had been cooking and burning around a frozen center that was just starting to thaw-- and he wasn't sure what would happen to the inside. He used to enjoy things. He used to love with enthusiasm and pursue what he wanted. But what was he supposed to want now? 

The closer they got to July the more that Clark's heart hurt and the more undecided he was. All he could think about was Jon. Jon who hadn't even reached his first birthday who would have been three years old on the tenth. But he didn't talk about it, he wasn't sure that he would be able to. Bruce was tense about Talia coming to visit and the boys were excited to see the only mother they had ever known. And Clark wouldn't be the person to take that from them. 

On the morning she was supposed to arrive, Alfred was out shopping for the week. Clark jumped on the opportunity to make breakfast, wanting to do something that he didn't have to think about while he was waiting for everyone to wake up. He connected his phone to the wireless speaker in the corner and put on a playlist of oldies that he had made when he was still in high school as he mixed up batter for waffles and chopped strawberries. He'd just poured his second cup of coffee when he noticed Bruce leaning against the door frame smiling at him. 

Clark smiled back, he couldn't help it. Just out of bed, Bruce looked so much like he did when they were younger that sometimes it made Clark's chest hurt. He poured a cup for Bruce and pushed it across the island to him, luring him in. He sighed and pushed off the wall over to him. "Alfred is going to explode if he sees you cooking." 

"I _like_ cooking," Clark reminded him as he poured sugar over the strawberries and stirred them in. "Besides, he'll have to get used to it if I stay."

Bruce raised an eyebrow at him. "If?" 

"I'm thinking about it." Clark shrugged. And before Bruce could respond the song changed to Don Cherry singing about a Ghost Town and he grinned. "Oh, man do you remember this song?"

"How could I _ever_ forget it?" Bruce chuckled. He looked away and Clark knew that he was thinking back to their senior year when Clark and his family had come up for the holidays. Bruce was being pushed to go to some charity ball and Martha was trying to teach him how to dance. Her and Clark's father had been Lindy hop dancers when they were younger. They tried to teach both Clark and Bruce just basic steps and it had taken all day with the same song blaring through the manor. But no matter how much time had passed, Clark knew neither of them would ever forget the dance. 

He grinned and and picked up the spoon he'd stirred the strawberries with and stared Bruce down as he turned up the volume and sang at him. 

" _When I walk up maaain street, it isn't the saaame street_."

"Clark-"

" _To me it's a haaaunted aaaavenue_ ." He did a little clumsy step to the song until he was at the end of the island and threw the spoon to his other hand. Bruce was watching him in a mix of amusement and secondhand embarrassment that just spurred him on. He struck a pose and half yelled, " _The crowded balleooooooom! Seems empty and bluuuuue_ ." He grinned and did a little spin up to where Bruce was standing while laughing at him. " _This town's a ghost town, without you._ " He put the spoon down and held out his hand to Bruce with a little wiggle of his eyebrows. 

Bruce didn't even hesitate as he took his hand and they stepped into the easy bounce that his mom had taught them so long ago. He laughed when Clark spun and dipped him before he pulled him back up and they saw a wide eyed Tim watching them from the doorway. 

Bruce stiffened just a little but Clark just spun him out back to the counter and snapped toward Tim. He grinned at him when Clark spun and dipped him too. Clark showed him how to do a little scoot move with his socks and soon the laughing brought Jason in too. Jason was much worse at the scoot move that Tim, but when the next song came on he managed to get it down. They danced straight through it and when Jason demanded to know more, Clark reached back out to Bruce, the boys cheering for a demonstration. 

Watching Tim and Jason trying to dance with each other was just about the cutest thing that Clark had ever seen. They bickered about silly things, whose hand would be on top, who stepped first, who was _the boss_. That was until Bruce told them that he liked to let Clark be the boss and then neither of them wanted to do it. They were spinning in clumsy little circles, watching Bruce and Clark when Alfred showed up in the kitchen with grocery bags and looked bewildered by the commotion, a wide eyed Talia walking in behind him.

Bruce felt like he'd been caught doing something he wasn't supposed to be doing. Clark's hands tightened reflexively on his and it was the only thing that kept him from wrenching himself away and babbling some unnecessary excuse. Talia wasn't his wife anymore and Clark and him weren't... He looked at Clark. They weren't anything anymore either. 

"Mom!" Jason shrieked and ran into Talia's legs. She ducked down to hug them both when Tim joined his brother. 

"I've missed you guys so much," she told them with her face smushed between their shoulders. Clark let him go, but Bruce squeezed his fingers before he let go completely. Immediately, Tim and Jason wanted to show Talia the dance they'd learned. "Let me say hello to your uncle Clark first," she said with a smile. She stood and turned with a smile to Clark. He was a little surprised to see that her smile looked just as genuine. "I've missed you too you know. Your phone still works," she said quietly as she hugged Clark. 

"I know," Clark said just as quietly back. "Been adjusting." Bruce suddenly felt like he didn't belong in his kitchen with his family around him. 

"I'm going to go get Damian," Bruce said. Talia nodded and her smile dimmed some when she looked at him. 

"Now what was this dance?" Talia said in a louder voice. He could hear her smile. 

When he walked in Damian's room he was a little surprised that it was empty, but he knew the boy's normal hiding places. He checked the closet first, then under the bed. When he opened the toy chest, he was greeted by two green eyes looking up at him. 

"Hey buddy. Your mama's here." 

Damian's eyes brightened and he reached to pull himself up. Bruce pulled him out of the chest, but let him run down the hall. As soon as they got to the bottom of the stairs Damian looked around like he was trying to figure out where to go. Then Talia laughed and Damian was off. He ran into the kitchen and stopped. Bruce was a few steps behind.

"There's my baby," Talia said and crouched down. When she opened her arms for a hug, Damian backed into Bruce's legs. He saw the hurt cross Talia's eyes but she never stopped smiling. "No hug today? That's okay. How about a handshake?" She held her hand out. Damian looked up at him then reached out grabbed her finger, squeezed it, and darted back. "Thank you baby," she replied. Her voice sounded thick and he saw her swallow before saying, "That was the best handshake I've ever gotten." 

"Do you think that your mom has seen Big Trouble?" Clark asked. 

"No!" Tim said his eyes wide as he looked up at Talia. 

"You gotta see it mom! It's the best!" Jason declared. 

"How about we go get set up? Your mom and dad can make us some popcorn." He appreciated Clark distracting the boys because it looked like Talia wasn't going to be able to hold it together much longer. 

"C'mon Dami, pillows!" Jason called. Damian shouted and ran ahead of the twins to the den. Clark followed after them looking amused. He shot Bruce a look he didn't understand as he passed them. 

"So he's still not talking?" Talia asked. She hadn't stood instead she was looking down at the hand Damian had squeezed.

"Talia."

She looked up at him and whispered, "He's afraid of me. My own son." 

He pulled her to her feet. She sniffled before turning into him. He held her, because even if they weren't together she was still the mother of his children. "He ran straight down here when I said you were here. He missed you."

"He doesn't. We've never connected. Even when he was a baby. I-" 

"You are a wonderful mom. There are two boys in there that are proof of that." Her grip on the back of his shirt tightened. "Damian's just stubborn and takes too much after me," he added. He heard her snort. "He's not afraid of you." 

She didn't say anything or respond and he rubbed her back until she stepped back and wiped her face. "I didn't mean to ruin your fun," she said after clearing her throat. "You looked happy." He ignored the accusation he wanted to read into her words and grabbed a bag of popcorn. 

"You didn't ruin anything," he replied. "Did you figure out how long you were staying?" 

"I'm only here for today and tomorrow, but I'll be back for the boys' birthday. It was either a long visit now and miss their birthday or this." 

"They'll be glad you're here," he said. 

"I can get a hotel if you'd prefer," she suggested. 

"No. It's fine. We have the space."

"I don't want you to think I'm trying to get in the way of anything." 

He turned and looked at her. "Get in the way? Of what?" 

She looked at him as the microwave hummed. "Nothing. They're in the den?" He nodded and she turned with one last look at him before stepping out. Alfred was already cleaning up the mess from Clark's waffles. He stuck the stack he'd already made in the microwave after taking out the popcorn. 

Clark was under a mountain of blankets and pillows when he walked into the den. Just his legs were sticking out. Bruce snorted. 

"I told you _structural integrity_ ," Tim said as Jason looked distraught. The pillows must have been a fort at one point. 

"I don't know what that _means_!" Jason snapped. 

"Who gets the popcorn first?" Bruce asked before Tim replied and they could start an actual argument. 

Damian jumped up out of the blankets and yelped. He laughed and told him to find a seat. He climbed up onto the couch next to Talia and plopped down. Bruce set the bowl in his lap before going to exhume Clark. 

"You alive under there? It looks like Oz got its revenge and crash landed on Kansas." He could hear Clark's muffled laughter and removed one of the couch cushions. Clark looked up at him. He looked perfectly disheveled. "Well come on. I can't let you die. You have to fight my kids since you're the one that got them hooked on this." He helped the twins build a new more supported fort and they curled up under it with Clark. He sat down next to Talia, pleased to see that Damian had scooted closer so he was pressed against her. She reached for the popcorn and met Bruce's eyes. 

"I told you," he whispered to her as the movie started. 

Clark wished that he had another cup of coffee in him when Jason and Tim started staging the battles. It was an unspoken rule that Clark was always the bad guy because he was the biggest. Jason was usually Jack Burton and Tim ran around them telling them what they were doing wrong. 

Talia's eyes sparkled with amusement when he looked over at where her and Bruce were chatting on the couch as Tim and Jason pinned him to the ground. He ignored the tightness in his chest as he focused on the boys, allowing Bruce and Talia their privacy. It had never made sense to Clark why they had broken up. The boys all loved her, he knew that Bruce had too. He also knew though that in the end it had been Talia’s decision. 

By the time the movie was over, the boys were starving and Talia admitted that she hadn’t eaten since the night before, so they moved towards the kitchen so Clark could finish his waffles. Alfred only frowned at him until Clark forced a plate on him, and then even he couldn’t pretend to be unhappy. Alfred helped Talia with her things, letting her get settled into her room as the boys helped Clark clean up the kitchen. They were almost done when Vickie called him again pushing him to come work with her at the Gazette. 

“That sounded very business like,” Talia said, surprising him when she walked into the kitchen. She had changed into more comfortable clothes, a large green sweater and comfortable jeans and booties. 

He rolled his eyes but smiled at that. Lois used to tease him all of the time about his phone voice. Told him that he always sounded serious when it was something to do with work. “It was Vickie Vale trying to get me to work with her again.” He sighed as she came to sit with him at the table, waiting for Bruce to come back with the boys. 

“You’re thinking about working at the Gazette?” 

Clark made a face. “I’m _thinking_ about it,” he said, stressing the word. “Finding a place in Metropolis is turning into a headache and Bruce offered for me to stay here.” He let that sit for a minute and rubbed at his eyes. “I can’t say the offer isn’t tempting. I probably would have turned it down before I came back, but now…” 

Talia put her hand over his and he looked up at her. She wasn’t a cryer or a hugger, but she got her point across with small touches and simple words. That was all she’d ever needed to let Clark know that she was there and that she was hurting with him too. He cleared his throat. 

“I forgot what it was like to be around kids," he admitted softly. “I don’t think I can go back to being alone.” Talia squeezed his hand and after a long minute of silence he laughed and shook his head trying to play it off. "But maybe I'm just stressed about having to work with Vickie Vale."

"Do you have to go back to the news?" Talia asked and Clark blinked at her. He hadn't considered leaving. "You have been so many places now, and you've had your hand in so many things. Clark Kent is almost a household name all over the world, your travel pieces are in everyone's bathroom." He smirked at that and she gave him a wicked grin. "Have you ever thought about writing a book?" 

"I…" His chest tightened. "I wouldn't know what to write about." 

She shrugged. "I don't think you have to yet." 

Clark stayed behind as they went to the movies, watching them pile into the car with a little smile at all of their quips. You would never know by looking at them that they weren't a perfect little family. But as happy as it made him, it also hurt his heart. He felt depression hanging over his head, forcing him to drag himself into the living room and onto the couch. He barely got the TV on before he went into a full shut down. He stared at the menu of the streaming site but didn't take anything in, waves of grief rolling around in his head until he shut his eyes and let it take him. 

He didn't remember falling asleep, but his eyes were heavy when he dragged them open and found himself in the dark room. The TV had been turned off and someone had put a blanket over him. His eyes hurt and felt hot like he had been crying though he didn't remember when that started. And when he sat up, he saw that Bruce was sitting on the end of the couch. Clark's legs were pulled into his lap and the book he'd been reading was forgotten on top of them as he slept. It made Clark's throat feel tight and warm all at the same time and he didn't want to wake him up, but he knew that he had to. 

"B," he whispered as he shook his shoulder lightly. He groaned and Clark shook him again. "B, you can't stay like this. Your back," he reminded him. 

Bruce made a face but opened his eyes and as soon as he moved, he groaned. "If you say I told you so…" he warned him but let Clark pull him up slowly. 

Clark had to help him up the stairs and they made it to the second floor before Bruce decided that he couldn't go any further. Clark chuckled and pulled him to the first door where he had been staying and helped him out of his shirt before he laid him face down on the bed. 

"This is a horrible idea," Bruce said not for the first time since they had entered the room. He had always been weird about his back after his surgery, not wanting anyone to touch it and potentially send him back to the hospital again. 

"Do you trust me, or not?" Clark asked him, waiting at the edge of the bed with a few bottles in hand. When Bruce didn't reply, Clark took it as a cue to continue. He swung his leg over Bruce and leaned over him, unable to help the grin on his face at the precarious position. 

"You're grinning aren't you?" Bruce asked trying to turn, but stopped with a pained groan. 

"Stop moving," Clark complained at him and opened one of the bottles, plopping a few drops of oil along Bruce's shoulders. 

"What is that?" He asked as it started to slide down the landscape of him. "It tingles."

"Hazelwood and bee venom," Clark told him.

"Clark, what-" 

But Clark shushed him and ran his hands over his shoulders and down his back. "I got it from this tiny lady in India. She was using it for arthritis, it helps loosen your muscles, like a shock without the pain."

"It feels… warm," Bruce said after a minute of him rubbing it in, the tension in his back starting to ease a little. 

"See? All that whining for nothing."

"Next time you can freeze alone in the dark," Bruce promised lowly.

Bruce relaxed with every second that passed. His eyes closed and he let Clark work what had to be magic on his tight muscles. 

"You okay?" Clark asked after Bruce didn't even know how long. He just knew he hadn't felt this good in a long time. 

"No, you broke me. I can't move," Bruce grumbled into the blankets beneath him. 

"Oh really?" Clark asked. Bruce recognized the teasing in his voice. He hummed. Clark laughed then the warmth on the back of his legs went away. Before he could move though he felt a blanket fall over him and the bed shift next to him. Bruce turned his head and looked at Clark who was stretched out next to him. 

"Go to sleep Bruce," Clark said quietly. 

-

He woke up before Clark, which had never happened when they were kids. His back felt better than it had in a while. He stretched for a moment then tucked the blanket back around Clark and headed to check on Damian, who was always up first. 

Talia was asleep in his room. Her thumb was held in his fist and he knew that was what had kept her there. 

"Talia," he whispered, touching her shoulder. She stirred and looked up at him. Her confusion broke into a smile. 

"G'morning," she murmured and looked at her captured finger. Damian stirred, his green eyes opening into suspicious slits immediately.

"You ready to get dressed?" he asked. Damian stared at him then crawled over to the side. 

"I think we're going camping today," Talia said when she walked back in. "The boys want to go exploring and show me their new tree house?" 

"Just the twins?" he asked. 

"I think Damian's old enough to be an explorer," she looked down at Damian who was putting his shoes on. "Right?" 

"Ahh!" Damian yelled and frowned up at Bruce like he thought he didn't think he could. 

"Do you want me to come with you?" 

"Why don't you and Clark get out of the house? Alfred said you haven't done anything since he got here." 

"Are you sure?" 

"Yes, I can take care of our kids," she said. He expected her eyes to be angry, but she just looked amused. "Go spend time with your best friend."

-

He looked up things that were happening while Alfred and Talia bickered over omelet ingredients. It was an old argument, one of the first that they'd ever had. He smiled as he listened to the indignant tone that Talia always managed to pull out of the reserved man. Damian sat next to him coloring the newspaper. 

He shot a text to his assistant and grabbed a crayon. Damian stared at him while he doodled on the top half of the page. Then started drawing his own version of the dog Bruce was drawing. By the time the omelets were on the table he had a text with their ticket information and dogs covered the entire page. 

"Looks like it'll just be you at the manor today," he told Alfred. 

"I might finally have a chance to clean properly," Alfred said. Talia frowned and told him to rest, which they all knew wouldn't happen. 

"I'm going to go wake everyone up," he said over their back and forth. Talia didn't look away, just continued her lecture on the importance of rest, like she ever took a day off. She'd answered two work calls just in the hour or so that they had been up. 

Jason and Tim groaned and grumbled their way through brushing their teeth before they headed downstairs. Bruce knocked on Clark's bedroom door. It was cracked from when Bruce had left, a habit that he couldn't break himself of. He watched Clark blink awake before pushing the door open. 

"Did you tuck me in?" Clark asked as he struggled to free himself. 

"No," he lied and opened the closet. 

"What are you doing?" Clark asked. Bruce just hummed and kept digging through the drawers. 

"You'll have to wear one of mine," he said and walked out of the room. 

"What? Bruce?" Clark called as he walked down the hall. 

Clark hadn't moved from the bed when he walked back in with two shirts. 

"Pick one and get dressed. We have to leave in an hour if we want to make it." 

"Want to make it where?" Clark asked as he grabbed one of the shirts. "Wait are we going to a Griffins game?" Clark called, but Bruce was already walking back upstairs to get dressed. 

He took a moment to take in the stretch of the shirt across Clark's back where he kneeled to tie Tim's boots. Bruce had picked the two bigger shirts he owned, but it looked like he hadn't picked big enough. Tim ran off and Clark stood. Bruce watched him unfold and swallowed. He needed to get that under control. 

"I thought we were in a hurry," Clark said as he turned. 

Bruce just hummed and went down the hall. Talia and Jason were talking about what supplies they would need for the day while Tim showed Damian the compass that Clark had got him for his birthday the year before. It had been part of a whole kit that Clark had made. Damian nodded along as Tim talked. 

"You guys good?" he asked. He got an array of agreements and Damian shouting. 

"Go give your dad a hug. You always have to remember who you really want to come back to when you go on an adventure, or you might not ever come back," Talia said. Jason and Tim collided with each other then fell against him as they hugged him. Damian bounced behind them with a scowl as he waited for his turn. Jason and Tim hugged Clark then ran back to Talia to get their backpacks strapped on. Bruce hugged Damian and made him promise to be good for his mom. Damian stared at him and for a moment it looked like he might say something before he nodded and went back to Talia. 

"I hope your treasure map doesn't lead to an abandoned mine or something," Bruce said as they pulled out onto the main street. 

"It takes them to the cave we used as our clubhouse. Though they do take a very roundabout way to get there. I figured you would know that," Clark said. 

"Tim wanted to wait for you to be back before they found the treasure. Treasure hunting with their mom must be good enough." 

-

The guy at the gate barely acknowledged them as they walked through. Clark slid his Kansas hat back on and smiled at Bruce's exasperation. "You couldn't go one game without wearing it?" 

"I'm supporting your team," Clark said pulling on the Griffins logo on his chest. "But I have to make sure they know where my _real_ alliance lies." 

He rolled his eyes. 

"Wait, where are we going?" Clark asked. 

"Our seats," he said as he walked down the stairs. 

They sat down behind the home plate and Clark looked up at the crowd behind them and then the players on the field. 

"How?" he croaked. He could see the excitement in his eyes. 

"I called in a favor," he said. 

"Meaning you- oh my god." Clark leaned forward. He looked like a little kid again as he started reciting the stats of the players. It had been a while since Bruce had followed baseball that closely, but he'd paid enough attention to know who Clark was talking about when he turned and made a noise that reminded him of Damian. 

"I haven't seen you this excited in a while," Bruce commented. 

"I haven't gotten to watch an actual game in what, three years?" Clark looked behind them again at the slowly filling stands. "This is-" Clark looked at Bruce. "Thank you," he said and squeezed his wrist. The perks of their seat was not having to get up when Clark suddenly remembered his mom's rule that you couldn't watch a game without a hotdog. They were decked out with sodas, hotdogs and a bundle of cotton candy that Bruce had ordered without thinking. 

Clark had just taken his first bite of his hotdog when he coughed. 

"My mom is going to kill me," Clark said. 

"Why?" Bruce asked, trying not to look at the flush on Clark's cheeks as he took another bite. He'd been to plenty of games with Clark over the years, but there was something familiar about sitting behind home plate with their legs pressed against each other while they ate hotdogs and discussed strategies. It reminded him of cool summer nights and the kisses they'd shared beneath the bleachers in Smallville while they waited for Martha to pick them up. 

"I promised I'd visit. That was over a month ago," Clark said. 

"I'll go with you, we can take the boys. She'll be too busy smothering them with affection to kill her only child who she hasn't seen in two years."

"Ugh. You're the worst," Clark said laughing and leaning back in his dismay. "I already feel like shit. But you're serious?" 

"Yeah. I've always wanted to show the boys the farm. If that's okay with you?"

"Yeah, of course," he told Bruce immediately, hating just how thick it sounded. He saw the shift in Bruce's eyes and pushed forward before he could try to take it back. "I want them to come," he told him, squeezing his wrist again. "Really. But you should prepare them for the love my mother is going to smother them with."

"They could probably use a good smothering of love," Bruce grumbled, his eyes back to normal but there was a pout on his lips when he turned back to the field. 

Clark was too captivated by the jut of them to watch the next play. He swallowed. "You're not still pouting about that article."

"It said I was _cold toward my children_ ," Bruce recited in a robotic voice. 

"It was a trashy grocery store magazine," Clark reminded him and when his face didn't change. He nudged him and smirked when Bruce's practiced expression broke slightly. "It's nowhere near as bad as the magazine we found back in Metropolis after you and Talia showed up at that Gala soaking wet."

Bruce groaned and shook his head. "Don't remind me!" He begged him as the Griffin's batter got a hit. 

It was a fun game, even if Clark had never been a Griffins fan. He still loved baseball. Loved the atmosphere. Loved looking around and seeing everyone just as engrossed as he was in the game they all loved. But it was nowhere near the feeling of spending time with Bruce. He couldn't even remember the last time that they had done this, just the two of them. He remembered the game right after his wedding when Kansas was in the playoffs. Bruce had surprised Clark with tickets and he'd spent the entire game explaining the rules to Lois as Cat screamed obnoxiously at plays she didn't understand but knew she should be mad at. But the last time he couldn't remember. Not like the first--

It was right after his junior year of high school. Bruce had come down to Smallville to help him pack before they spent the summer in Gotham. It was a local game, but a good one. Clark's dad was supposed to go with them, but his mother had held him back with a little wink. They'd spent most of them game just talking about all the stupid things that they had planned for the summer when the wind brought a little chill over the plains. Bruce had shivered and Clark gave him his jacket, insisting that he take it. He had been so nervous, his heart hammering so hard against his chest as he said, " _No, really. Actually, I've been wanting to see it on you for a long time_." 

"Do you remember that game in Smallville?" Clark asked keeping his eyes on the field. "The local grocery store game?"

Bruce laughed and grinned at him. "The game you asked me to go _steady_ with you at?"

"I did not-"

"You gave me your letterman and we held hands." Bruce's smile was wicked now. "You know I still have your jacket."

"You don't." 

"I do," he insisted and they argued about it until the game was over and they were walking back to the car. But once they saw the line of cars spilling out of the garage they decided to walk around downtown for a while. 

Bruce hated shopping but he was a good sport as Clark dragged him into a few shops, stopping at an antique store last. Bruce followed him around and made fun of him as he picked up a few things and eventually settled on an old typewriter that barely even worked. "What do you even need that for?" Bruce asked when they walked to the register. "It doesn't work."

"I can fix it," Clark insisted with a wave of his hand. "And it's not for me, it's for Jay." Bruce blinked and Clark shrugged at him. "He spends all his time reading, maybe he'll write something someday."

"Are you trying to sculpt my children into you?" 

"One of us had to be _warm_ toward them." Bruce punched his arm almost hard enough to hurt. 

They stopped at a bakery on the way back to the parking garage and spent almost the whole time laughing about games that they had been to together. Talking about their wives and how much Cat had ended up loving sports. How much Lois had hated them. How Bruce had always thought that Conner would grow up to be a football player and Clark rejected it remembering how sensitive he'd been. They talked about so many things. And for once it didn't hurt so bad to talk about those them. 

"Can I say something without this being weird?" Clark asked when they finally got back to the garage. Bruce unlocked the doors as Clark closed the typewriter into the trunk. 

"Probably not, but go ahead," Bruce said as they both climbed into the car. 

Clark opened his mouth and then shut it again shaking his head. "It's nothing."

Bruce pushed him. "Unfair, you have to tell me." 

He started the car but Clark knew that they weren't going anywhere until he fessed up. He sighed and warned, "I'm not saying this to make it a thing, okay?" Bruce rolled his eyes and nodded at him. "It's just that being out with you today was really nice. It made me feel like we were idiot teenagers again and… well, it was just really nice to feel like that. It's been a while." He knew that his face was red but he grinned it off and shook his head. "Okay, I said it. It's out there. You don't have to hold us hostage any longer."

"I had fun today too," Bruce replied. He was halfway home before he realized that Clark hadn't insisted on driving and that they hadn't stopped talking the entire way. He smiled to himself. Maybe they had both needed this. 

"We should have everything you need," he offered as they walked inside. "Alfred keeps the kitchen pretty stocked." 

"Where are you going? You're not going to help me?" 

"I'll be right back," he replied and pushed Clark toward the kitchen. Clark grumbled and threatened him. Bruce ignored it until he couldn’t hear the whining anymore. He opened his closet and walked to the back corner. He pushed the suits away and looked at the first bag. He unzipped it, but it was his suit from his wedding with Selina. He touched the lapel. Talia had bagged it for him a month or so after they started dating. She'd caught him staring at it as he got ready for work. She hadn't made him get rid of it, she'd just put it away so he could move on with his day without being reminded any more than he already was. He zipped the bag back up and opened the next. Another suit, the one he'd married Talia in. He had found it bagged hanging next to Selina's the day after she'd moved out. He opened the last one and grinned. 

"Where is your potato peeler?" Clark asked when he walked into the kitchen. "I really don't want to use a-" a Clark stopped when he turned. 

"I told you I kept it," he offered the dumbfounded look. He turned to show Clark his name on the back, like the SHS on the front wasn't evidence enough. 

"It still fits?" Clark said abandoning the carrot he'd been holding. 

"Sleeves are a little short," he said holding his arms up to show off his wrists. "But yeah." He pulled it around himself and grinned as Clark just stared. "Are you okay?" He asked, taking a step forward. Clark's eyes were drifting, he didn't like it. 

"You really kept it?" Clark said again. 

"You gave it to me," he replied. 

Clark's eyes flicked up from the patch on his chest. Bruce was caught in the heat in those eyes that he hadn't seen in over a decade. 

"Are you cooking in my kitchen again, Master Kent?" Alfred asked as he walked in. Clark visibly jumped. 

"Hhhuh?" 

"Have I interrupted something?" Alfred asked. 

Clark looked back at Bruce, his eyes flipping to his lips then back to his eyes so quickly Bruce wasn't sure he'd actually seen it. "Where is your peeler? I can't find it." 

Bruce slipped out of the letterman and hung it over the back of the chair. He pushed Alfred to the side with a smile and told him that they'd make him dinner. Just like when they were kids, Clark ended up making most of it. Bruce did most of the chopping though and held the spoon while Clark went to grab some more chicken stock from the pantry. Alfred had told him that he was doing a very good job holding the spoon, and Bruce had grinned. The boy in him was pleased by the praise. 

After dinner they walked down to check on Talia and the boys. Clark had forced the letterman on him when they headed out. Bruce humored him. The way his eyes kept darting to it between sentences was worth the slight discomfort it caused. The tree house had been there when Dick and Bruce were kids, but it had gotten old, and most of the wood had rotted away from disuse. A few weeks ago he'd come home to Alfred sitting on the back patio with a pile of wood and a saw that he hadn't seen anyone use in years. Dick and Clark had spent the entire day sprucing it up. Dick had had the day off and according to him had been driving Barbara crazy, so he'd been banished. By the end the tree house had been a mix of the old and new wood. The boys had two ladders, rope and slats in the tree. Bruce had also been forbidden from going in it. He'd stared up at the four sets of eyes staring down on him and had frowned. Dick had reminded him why they hadn't been allowed to use it when they were kids and he grumped. Fall out of a tree house once and get banned for life. He saw how it was. 

Bruce could hear them laughing from the ground. He stood there listening to them for a few minutes. It had been a while since he'd heard Jason laugh that loud. He knew that he missed his mom, but he hadn't realized how much until that moment. Damian's loud shouts broke in between the laughter and Talia's voice always followed. 

"You could go up there," Clark said. "We were just joking about you not being allowed."

"No it's fine. They deserve time with her," he replied. "Let's head back. My wrists are getting cold." 

"I can't have that," Clark said and grabbed his wrist. A couple steps later his palm slid down against his. And a few more their fingers intertwined. Bruce kept his eyes on the dark path ahead of them. The sound of the trees around them was drowned out by the thudding of his heart. 

Clark let his hand go when Bruce pulled open the gate leading them into the back garden. He opened his mouth to ask if he wanted to watch a movie a few times, but nothing came out. 

"Goodnight," Clark offered in a quiet voice before heading down the hall to his room. Bruce stared after him wishing not for the first time that he had stopped him from leaving.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _"Major lifts." -DNA_
> 
> I honestly fucking can't with DNA right now my gooooooooooood. STOP DISTRACTING ME FROM WRITING AUTHORS NOTES BY BEING ADORABLE.
> 
> This chapter was filled with a lot of cute. But there are a couple of things I wish to share--
> 
> The song that Bruce and Clark dance to in the kitchen is called [_Ghost Town_](https://youtu.be/Avq1_CSJZK4) by Don Cherry. It's incredibly enjoyable and I encourage you all to listen to it. And of you enjoy this kind of music-- I have an entire playlist of the music I think Clark would listen to. I made it for another fic, but I use it for pretty much everything. You can find that [_here_](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1rUCue7XAcXG0WsO9sokKn?si=NSLVKSJCTCeUxZu8HQWTiQ).
> 
> It also astounds me that so many people I know have not seen _Big Trouble In Little China_. It is the most rediculous and best action movie ever made. And if you enjoy mortal kombat and Kurt Russell-- you need it in your life right now. I'm pretty sure it's on Amazon Prime to. So crush that shit. 
> 
> I hope that your social distancing is going well and everyone is healthy and mostly happy. See you next week!


	4. Chapter 4

The sun was just starting to break through the trees when Bruce found himself at the bottom of the tree house helping Talia get the boys down. Damian was tucked against his neck making unhappy noises while Tim latched onto the back of his shirt and followed after him like a half awake zombie. Talia was talking to Jason softly. He could hear the tears in his voice as he asked why she couldn't stay. Bruce glanced back. She picked him up and walked with him tucked into her neck the rest of the way to the manor. Tim latched on to Talia easily when Bruce turned to go take Damian and she walked the boys back to their room. He stood over Damian's bed and watched him sleep. 

"They miss you," he said when Talia stepped up next to him. 

"Do you?" she asked. 

"At times," he replied. He pulled the blanket higher over Damian's shoulder and brushed the lick of a curl sticking up on the back of his head. 

"Bruce," Talia's voice was so quiet as she spoke. "I've never asked, because I didn't think it mattered. And maybe you didn't either." She made a face and her shoulders squared as she met his eyes. "You still love him." Maybe it had been a question at first. But she knew the answer as she looked at him. 

"I always have." 

"But you don't love me?" she said, her voice tilting up. 

He touched her face, lifting her from where she'd been staring at his chest. "I'll always love you. But you said it yourself, you deserve someone that loves you as much as you love them." He swallowed. "I don't think I have it in me to love anyone like that anymore." 

"You already do," she said. "I saw it in the kitchen when I walked in." 

"That's not-" 

"I wish that I'd paid closer attention. I wonder sometimes if I would have even seen it being so close. But Bruce, it's okay to let yourself be happy. Selina would want that wouldn't she?" She tugged and he let himself fold into her arms. This was what he missed the most. "If he makes you happy, then be happy." She kissed him on the cheek before stepping back. She leaned over and kissed Damian before squeezing Bruce's shoulder and walking out. 

Alfred carried her bag out to the car even as Talia lectured him and tried to take the bag from him. Bruce watched them from the door. Alfred closed the trunk and opened the door for Talia. She stopped and smiled before hugging Alfred. She whispered something to him before sliding into the car. 

"Is that a smile?" Bruce asked when Alfred walked back up the stairs. 

"I don't know what you are talking about," Alfred replied. Bruce chuckled and nudged him in the door. 

"I was thinking of taking the boys to Smallville in a few days. Will you be okay?" 

"I will," Alfred said. "I do not want you worrying about me."

"It's too late." Alfred scoffed and Bruce followed him into the kitchen. "I'm sure that Leslie will be happy to hear you're going to take some time off." 

Alfred shot him a blank look. "I think I have mushrooms in the fridge. It would be a shame if they ended up in your omelet." 

"Fine," he said and raised his hands in surrender. He headed back upstairs and sent Leslie a text anyway. 

\---

Clark slept better than he normally did, for once not dreaming a single thing but instead reveling in the warm feeling that the day before had left him with. He couldn't remember the last time he had a day like that, fun and full and for once completely guilt free. But even as he thought that, Clark knew that wasn't entirely true. There had been moments, brief but vivid where he could feel himself starting to slip back into what he had Bruce had had before. Their thighs bumping at the stadium. Bruce's hand brushing over the small of his back as he held the door for him. Bruce's hand sliding into his as they walked back up to the house. 

Clark hadn't even thought about it, just let his hand slip from his wrist to his fingers like they had never stopped knowing how in the first place. 

Clark sighed and rolled over, cracking his eyes open to look at the alarm clock and nearly jumped out of his skin when a pair of clear blue eyes blinked at him. Clark sat up, clutching his chest as Tim's eyes widened. 

"Holy cow. Tim. You scared the Dickens outta me." He breathed and finally looked over at the clock. It was only six thirty. So much for sleeping in. "Everything okay, kiddo?" He asked when his heart stopped pounding and Tim still hadn't spoken. 

"Mom just left," he said in a soft voice that was both sad and resigned. It sounded so strange coming from such a small body. Clark smoothed his hair back and tried to keep his frown off his face. 

"You wanna talk about it?" He asked. Tim shook his head and Clark pulled the blanket back. "C'mere," he told him and Tim scampered into the bed tucking his head onto Clark's shoulder. He ran his hand through his hair and stared at the ceiling, giving his throat time to untie all the knots there at the thought of his own son curling around him. He remembered the nights before he would leave on assignment, how Conner would climb into the bed and try to keep him there. "I know it's hard not to have your mom here. But you know how much she loves you right?" Tim nodded. "She works really hard to try and make sure that the world will be a better place for you and your brothers. That you guys have whatever you need."

"I just miss her." Tim sighed sleepily. "She's never here long enough."

"But she never stops coming back," Clark told him with a little squeeze. "It may seem like a really long time for you, but I promise it feels way longer to her. She misses you as much as you miss her."

"Really?"

"I pinky swear," Clark told him and they locked their pinkies together. He brushed Tim's hair back and his eyes looked a little less sad. "Let's try and sleep a little more, okay?" Tim nodded and tucked in closer, closing his eyes.

-

Bruce was in his doorway when he woke up, looking at him and Tim with something that Clark couldn't quite read.

"Hey," Clark whispered and slid out from the choke hold that Tim had put him in. He moved his pillow down so that Tim could grip it and slid out of the bed and met Bruce at the door. 

"When did he…?" He trailed off nodding to Tim. 

"Around six?" Clark yawned. "Said Talia was leaving and he couldn't sleep." Clark looked at his empty wrist and frowned at Bruce. "What time is it?" 

"Early," Bruce answered with a smirk, reaching up to smooth out Clark's curls even though they would never be tamed. 

"What's the matter? Did you come to climb in bed with me too?" He teased and his eyes widened when Bruce shifted back on his feet looking guilty and embarrassed. He reached out and grabbed his elbow. "B, don't-"

"Good morning gentlemen," Alfred greeted them as he made his way past them with freshly folded linens for the closet down the hall. "There is coffee in the kitchen. Don't you dare think of making breakfast Master Kent," he warned him in what was a teasing tone for Alfred. 

Clark's face felt hot like he had been caught with a boyfriend by his mother and he was a little surprised when Bruce's face looked that way too. It did something to his chest. Something he hadn't felt in so long that it was terrifying, but not unwelcome. He didn't move his hand off of Bruce's arm, instead he squeezed it. 

"Coffee?" He asked but they both knew that he was asking more than that. He was asking for permission to talk about this, to see if there was a this to even talk about. Bruce nodded, his eyes looking just as timidly hopeful. Clark let his hand slide down to his wrist as they turned towards the stairs but they never got to have their conversation. 

Damian was up and screaming before they got to sit down. Only to scream harder when Bruce brought him down. The absence of Talia was a recurring frustration with all of the kids, showing in Damians's tears, Tim's concentration, and when Jason made it down, the tantrum building behind his eyes. The kids fought all morning, but were mostly settled by the time lunch came around. Clark was on the phone with his mother when they found him in the kitchen, Alfred allowing him to cook so that he could polish the silver at the table. 

"I was thinking we'd fly down on Monday, maybe stay the full week?"

"We?" His mom asked. He had gotten through most of the call before she had asked. 

"Well," his eyes darted to Bruce settling Damian in his chair. "Bruce offered to come with me. I thought it might be nice for you to see the kids. And B wanted to show them the farm." He waited but the other line stayed silent. "Ma?" 

"I'm here!" She assured him in a thick voice. "I think that sounds great. Your father will be happy to see Bruce. It's been so long-" Clark listened to his mother say all of the things they loved about his best friend. Listing off all the things that he'd wanted to talk about this morning but hadn't had the chance to. 

"What are you smiling about?" Bruce asked when he finally hung up.

"Nothing." He shook his head. "My parents are just really excited to see you is all."

-

Getting three kids packed and ready for a week away was an almost impossible task. They had decided to divide and conquer, Bruce and Clark took the twins while Alfred got Damian ready. Jason could not decide what jacket he wanted to bring. Clark had insisted that he probably wouldn't need one in a Kansas summer but he wanted to bring one anyway. Meanwhile Tim couldn't decide if he wanted to bring his Polaroid camera or some of the disposable ones. They ended up packing a third suitcase to house everything that they didn't actually need but the boys wouldn't leave without. 

Alfred met them in the den, Damian in his arms looking unhappy at having to wait on them. He passed him to Bruce and Clark dragged the new bags out to the car to go with the others before he managed to wrangle everyone to head to the airport. 

He was amazed at how calm Bruce was on the drive over. They were running a good hour behind and Gotham security was the worst around. He shouldn't have been surprised when Bruce took them past the long term parking and they were buzzed into a private hanger. 

"You didn't," Clark told him as they were waved into the hanger. Bruce just smiled. 

Bruce ran through the things they'd packed as the attendants loaded their bags onto the plane. Jason and Tim had dragged Clark up the stairs. They were lecturing him on the importance of gum to prevent ear explosions. Damian was asleep in his arms, the car had worked its magic. He knew that he wouldn't stay that way but he was grateful for the moment of peace. 

"All set Mr. Wayne?" He turned and nodded.

"I apologize ahead of time," he said looking down at the bomb in his arms. The pilot smiled and told him it wouldn't be a problem. 

It was. Damian screamed for the entire take off. Tim cried because he had accidentally swallowed his gum and he thought his ears were going to explode. Clark had covered his ears and told him that he wouldn't let them. Tim had looked up at him through tear filled eyes and asked him if he was sure. Clark's eyes had softened as he looked back at him and he swallowed before nodding and telling him it was how he did it when he ran out of bubblegum. Jason fell asleep before the plane had even reached altitude. Damian's voice finally cracked and his screaming stopped half an hour into their flight. He crawled out of his lap to beat at the floor until he finally slumped into a slumber. Clark stepped over him and slid into the seat next to Bruce. 

"Okay, so you made the right call." 

"Talia and I took them first class when we went to Florida. It was just the twins and it was hell. Plus this way we can land in Smallville and don't have to drive through hours of cornfields." 

"I like those cornfields," Clark retorted. 

"Hours. Clark.  _ Hours _ ." 

"It's better than sitting in the same spot behind the same car for  _ hours _ ," Clark replied. Bruce opened his mouth and realized that he was about to say that traffic was better, but stopped. Clark laughed. "Wake me up when we start our descent," Clark said and leaned his seat back. 

They got another half hour before the twins were up and bored. They set Damian off and the next hour passed with Damian shouting randomly at his brothers while they arguing over who got to pick what they watched. Bruce finally picked the movie when he got tired of their back and forth. They groaned and complained, but after the opening scene they quieted. Bruce picked up Damian on his way back to his seat. He set him down in the seat across from him and pulled out a contract. Damian accepted the pages and the crayons he gave him. A few seconds later he was laying across both of the seats and making his revisions. 

"If I'm turning the boys into me, you're turning Damian into you," Clark said. Bruce hadn't realized he had woken up, though he shouldn't have been surprised. 

"You say that like it's a bad thing?" 

Clark rolled his eyes and pulled his hat down, settling back to go to sleep. 

Once the twins finished their movie they wanted to play a game. They stared at Bruce expectantly, waiting for him to pick a game. "Charades?"

"I call daddy!" Jason said and grabbed his wrist. Tim didn't look at all dismayed, just ducked under his arm to look up at Clark, eyes big and pleading. 

"You can be on our team buddy," Bruce offered when Damian put down his crayon and stared at them. He pat the floor next to him. 

Jason went first. Tim sat in Clark's lap and watched. Bruce smiled as Jason flipped through a few options on the app and then stopped. He looked excited. Damian started shouting gibberish answers as soon as Jason started answering. Bruce acknowledged him as much as he could while also guessing. He got a few and Jason fell back against him with a pleased smile. Clark went next, Tim told him he was a good guesser. 

They played, laughing at the bad guesses, and terrible acting, until the pilot called for them to return to their seats. They ended up in different seats than they'd taken off on. Clark smiled at Tim who was obnoxiously chewing his piece of gum. Jason was next to him making faces at Damian who was screaming again. He didn't know if it was a good thing that he'd gotten so used to the screams that they didn't bother him anymore. 

The Smallville Airport was a world of difference from the Gotham terminal. They stepped out and he felt the sun and the warmth and the smell. He would never be able to explain the smell. It reminded him of pies and sweat and home. Jason and Tim pushed past him as they ran down the stairs. He didn't know where they thought they were going. They got to the bottom and yelled at each other about the real live cow that was in the field across the street. 

"Wait until they see the farm," Clark said as he brushed by him with their backpacks. 

Bruce felt a thrill go up his spine at the casual touch and the breath against the skin of his neck. 

"She said she'd be here," Clark said as they walked toward the small trailer that counted as the terminal building. 

"Jay! Tim!" Bruce called when he saw them wandering further away from where they were supposed to be going. 

"I'll get them," Clark said and set the bags down. 

Bruce watched Clark run after the boys who squealed and started running faster, but were circling their way back to him. 

"My eyes must be deceivin' me," Martha said. He turned and smiled as she walked up. Her smile hadn't changed one bit as she enveloped him in a hug. Damian whined as he was squished and Martha stepped back. "Is this Damian? Oh he's gotten so big." She smiled at Damian who stared back at her with a vague interest. "I've missed you," she said and pat his cheek. "Now where is my vagabond?" 

"Chasing after my other two," he answered and pointed to the trio running across the tarmac back to them. 

"Clark Joseph Kent!" His mother hollered from across the landing and Clark grinned. The boys stopped to blink at him in surprise, like adults weren't allowed to have middle names, like they were reserved for kids in trouble. He took advantage of their pause and grabbed them both around the middle, tucking them under his arms as they screamed in surprise and joy. 

He jogged with them over to his mother who wrapped him up in a tight hug, kids and all who complained and giggled around them. His mother wiped her eyes quickly when she pulled back and forced a laugh as she helped the boys down from his arms and they grinned at her as she fussed over how big they had gotten. It had been years since they had seen Martha--before the accident, but they seemed to remember her anyway, or at least remember that she was an important person. Jason answered all her questions while Tim hid a little behind his father and the attendant brought down their luggage. Bruce got the boys settled in the truck and Martha took the moment to really look at Clark, unable to stop the tears rolling down her cheeks. 

"Ma." He rubbed at her shoulder and pulled her into another hug. "It's okay, really. I'm fine."

"I know, I know I'm being silly." She swatted at him but wouldn't let him pull away from her. "I just haven't seen you. And to see you smiling with those boys…" she cleared her throat and pushed back from him, straightening herself. "If you think I'm bad, you just wait till we see your father," she teased, pulling him over to the truck with everyone else. 

Guilt seeped slowly into him when his mom kept her hand on his arm, happy to let him drive so she could look into the back seat and drill Bruce about everything she had missed. He felt almost worse for him as his mother laid on thick just how much she had missed him. 

"I admit I was jealous when Clark told me he was talking to you almost  _ every _ day," she told him as they pulled onto the road that lead to the farm. She laughed, "but I guess I can't be surprised. You two were so close and you made such a good-"

"Is that a cow?" Jason demanded, pressing his face into the window. "Like a  _ real _ cow?" 

Martha laughed. "Well we didn't make her, Hon," she told him with a squeeze of his leg giving Clark and Bruce a chance to lock eyes in the rearview mirror. 

His dad was waiting for them in the open doorway, waving his hat at them with a big smile as the boys scrambled out of the car. They ran up to Jonathan to reintroduce themselves with Martha while Clark stayed back with Bruce to get Damian out of his seat. Clark was nervous. His father had always been able to see right through him. What if he saw something that Clark wasn't ready to see, what would happen then? 

"Go," Bruce told him softly, pushing him forward. It gave Clark the momentum he needed to keep going forward. 

He crumbled into his father's embrace, closing his eyes as he held Clark hard against him, running his hand over his back in ultimate comfort. 

"I missed you Pa," he grumbled thickly, sparing a glance at his mother who was crying again. He smiled when Tim asked her if she was okay. 

"I always miss you son," his father told him and pulled back so he could really look at him. He held his face. "Look at you. Your beard is finally growing in," he teased and Clark choked out a watery laugh. 

"I brought someone with me," he told him and looked back at Bruce who had been watching them just a few steps away. 

Clark watched as his father's eyes went soft and he smiled broadly at his best friend. "I wouldn't believe that one was yours if he wasn't the spitting image of his father." Jonathan shook his head as he stepped up to meet him. Bruce offered him a handshake but Jonathan dodged it to hug him as tightly as he had hugged Clark. He grinned at Bruce from over his dad's shoulder and he was flushed when his father let him go. "I swear you don't look a day older than you did… how long has it been?" He asked Martha. 

"Four years," she told him instantly and Bruce turned redder. 

But they didn't dwell on it long. Martha pulled Bruce and the kids into the kitchen and Clark helped his Dad put their bags away. The twins would be staying on the pull out in the living room. Bruce and Damian would be in the guest room and Clark would be in his old room. 

It was like he had never left. His walls were plastered with pictures of old soul singers, Elvis and Sam Cooke and Frank Sinatra and his shelves were full of create your own adventure novels. He had a small desk tucked into the corner, his mom's old typewriter still waiting for him to write the great novel he'd always intended. The ukulele he'd gotten from their family vacation to Hawaii hanging on the wall. His dad left him to explore when his mother called him back down and Clark sat at the desk. He dug through the desk until he found an old notebook and flipped through it until he found a page with scratched out words and messy chords. He took the ukulele and strummed a few of them poorly before he turned the page and smiled at Bruce's name printed on the top, more messy chords underneath. He played the suspending C into E, humming before a knock on his door pulled him out of it and he slammed the notebook shut. 

Bruce was looking at him, barely able to keep the grin off his face as he looked at him in the same place he always found him every summer he came to visit. "That corner used to look a lot bigger," he told him and looked at the notebook. "What is that?" 

"Nothing," Clark said too quickly and pushed it off into the far corner before he could grab at it. That made it worse though. 

"If it's nothing, then why can't I see it?" Bruce asked grabbing for it again but Clark slipped it back into the drawer and looked at him defiantly. Luckily he was saved by his mother calling them down to eat. He grinned at Bruce who glared at him and hoped he would forget about it when his parents bombarded him with more questions. 

Jason and Tim were completely taken with Jonathan. They asked him questions about the animals and the farm. They begged to drive a tractor. Tim proudly told him that sometimes Alfred let him drive the lawnmower. Bruce half listened to Martha and Clark talk about the summer as he listened to Tim and Jason tell Jonathan story after story. 

"Our grandpa grows flowers. So he'd probably like it here!" Jason said. 

Bruce swallowed thickly. It still surprised him when they called Alfred their grandpa. Alfred had teared up the first time it had happened. It was Dick that stopped Alfred from correcting them the next time. He'd told Alfred that he was their dad, so that made him the kids' grandpa. Stephanie had called him grandpa a few weeks after that and it had continued. He wished he'd brought him out. He did love visiting the farm.

"He does like it here," Bruce volunteered after clearing his throat. 

"He's been here?" Tim asked. 

"He used to bring me here every year," Bruce told them. "You know that big black car he drives you to school in? We'd pack up and drive all the way out here." 

"No way! That must have taken forever!" Jason said. 

"It did, but it was fun too." 

"You drove all this way to see uncle Clark?" Tim asked. 

"I did," he said and offered Clark a smile. 

"He complained about the drive every single time," Clark said in a conspiratorial voice. 

"You're the one that was afraid of flying," he shot back. 

"I didn't want my ears to  _ explode _ ," Clark said like it was an obvious reason and when the boys agreed with him he knew that it should have been. Bruce scoffed. 

"Do you want to see some pictures of your dad?" Martha asked. The boys nodded and they all moved into the living room. Martha picked Damian up and Bruce was surprised when Damian just grabbed onto her collar and frowned. They went through the photo albums. Tim and Jason laughed at their funny clothes. And Clark's hair. They asked the stories to some of them and Bruce listened to Clark's retelling. 

The boys started to wane and he ushered them to get their baths. Damian was already asleep in Martha's arms when he came back from the bathroom. He couldn't look away.

"What?" she asked. He sat down next to her and brushed a hand through Damian's hair. 

"I've never seen him take to someone so fast," he whispered. He didn't want to wake him up. 

"You looked upset earlier, is everything okay?" 

He looked at the stairs and could still hear Clark and Jason talking while they waited for Tim to finish. "Everything's good. Better than I'd hoped for honestly. But you know Alfred. He's stubborn and won't stop working." 

"He thought about it. A few months back, but he told us that it felt like giving up," Jonathan said. "He'll keep working as long as he's fighting." 

Bruce nodded and felt his chest tighten. Jonathan gripped his shoulder. He shook his head trying to force the emotion back. "I don't know what I'll do without him," he admitted his voice cracking. 

"Oh darling, you'll keep on. He raised you boys so well. And you're such a good dad to your sons. None of that is going to change. And you know he doesn't want you worrying about that," Martha said. "He told you he's not going anywhere anytime soon. You need to believe that." 

"I've missed you," he said with a relieved sigh. Martha hugged him. Damian stirred in her lap, but didn't wake. 

"Then you should visit more," she admonished. 

"I didn't know if- with Clark gone-" 

"Son, that is the stupidest thing I've heard you say," Jonathan told him. "You'll always be welcome here." 

He heard quick footsteps on the stairs and wiped his face as Tim came barreling around the corner in his pajamas. He jumped into his lap. Bruce smiled, unable to help it. 

"You washed all over?" Tim nodded with a smile. "Even your toes?" 

"Yes!" 

"I don't believe you!" he grabbed Tim's foot and pulled it up to his face to inspect it. Tim's laugh broke out as he tickled him. "Well this one's clean. What about the other one?" Tim wiggled free and sat on his feet so he couldn't get them. 

"You sure you'll be okay out here?" he asked. Tim nodded with a brave look on his face. "I'm right down the hall, you guys can come wake me up whenever." 

"I know," Tim said and glanced down the hall to the guest bedroom door. 

"Why don't you say goodnight to the Kents then we can put Damian to bed?" 

Tim hugged Jonathan and then waited until Martha had handed Damian to him before hugging her. She brushed his hair and looked a little misty eyed when Jonathan helped her off the couch. He knew it had to be hard for them, seeing the boys, as old as the grandchildren that they had lost should have been. He put Damian down and let Tim put up the wall of pillows to keep him from rolling off the bed. When they got back out Jason and Clark were pulling the bed out. Well Clark was pulling it out and Jason was trying his hardest to help. The boys got settled. He gave them one of the books they'd brought and told them he'd be back in a few to check on them and then followed Clark up to his room. 

"I didn't forget," Bruce said as soon as the door shut behind them. 

Clark whipped around. "What?" 

"What's in the notebook?" 

"It's nothing, just an old writing assignment." 

"Then why did you hide it?" He asked and moved around Clark to reach for the notebook, but Clark snatched it away. "You know that you're going to tell me, you are terrible at keeping secrets," he teased. Clark looked a little taken aback by his tone and if Bruce was honest he was a little surprised by himself. It was being back on the farm. It made him feel young and lighter than he'd felt in years. He could tease Clark, and smile at him without having to think about who could see or what it meant. 

"You have to promise not to laugh," Clark said. He nodded and Clark sighed as he grabbed his ukulele. Bruce sat down on the end of Clark's bed and grinned as Clark plucked a few notes then opened the notebook. Clark didn't look away from the notebook as he started strumming. Then his voice joined in. To say Clark was a good singer was generous, but Bruce had always loved his voice. His heart skipped in his chest when he realized that he had spelled out his name. Clark's eyes closed as he sang, " _ forever you and me."  _

"You wrote me a song?" 

"I told you not to laugh," Clark said and shut the notebook. 

"I'm not," he said. "You wrote me a song? Why didn't you ever give it to me?" 

"Because I chickened out. It's not like it was some masterpiece," Clark replied. His eyes were on his fingers as they moved on his ukulele. 

"But it was for me," he breathed. Clark finally looked up at him. 

"Would it have changed anything?" Clark asked. 

Bruce didn't have an answer. He looked at Clark. He wanted to say that it would have. He wanted for it to be the truth. 

"I'm going to shower," Clark said. He wanted to reach out and stop him, like he had all those years ago, but once again he didn't. He sat there for a few seconds before standing and looking around Clark's room one more time. 

The boys were murmuring to each other, but their yawns were breaking their sentences more with each of his steps down the stairs. He smiled as he slid by them. Damian was still asleep and had moved only to clutch at Goliath in his sleep. He got changed and while he wanted to wash the day away he gave in to the lure of the bed. He could shower in the morning.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello kids, welcome back to more sap! I really don't have much to put in these notes besides the fact that I think that Clark's bed room would be littered in elvis posters. And... because I know I will be asked, yes I wrote the song Clark wrote for Bruce. Yes I have a recording of it. And no I am not ready to embarrass myself by sharing it. I love you guys buuuut yeah. No. 
> 
> Anyway, we hope you enjoy the chapter. Happy Tuesday!


	5. Chapter 5

Bruce woke up with Jason and Tim squeezed into the bed with him. Jason was draped over his legs and Tim was tucked up against his chest. Martha was at the door, he must have been woken by her knock. She smiled at the sight.

"Good morning," she said when she saw he was awake. "They weren't in their bed, worried me for a moment." 

"It's the new place," Bruce answered with a jaw cracking yawn. He stretched and Jason whined. He cracked his eye open to look at him, then turned and saw Martha. She smiled at him. 

"Do you want to help me make pancakes?" 

Jason nodded already struggling to get out from the covers. He kicked Tim on his way out and the boy grunted, but didn't wake. Martha pulled the door shut with a promise to come get them when breakfast was ready. 

Bruce laid there listening to Tim's tiny snores and thinking about Clark's question from the night before. Would it have changed anything? Would Bruce have ignored Diana? He didn't know why he'd listened to her. They'd been talking about what they wanted to do when they got to college. The new experiences they felt like they had to check off or it wouldn't be complete. Diana had said she wanted to meet new people to date new people. Bruce had pointed out that she had a boyfriend and she'd laughed. She'd told him that she wasn't going to stay with him. She quoted an article that she'd read that had all these terrible stats about long distance relationships and the rifts that college caused. With each number that she'd read off to him he'd felt like it was another nail on the coffin. He had been afraid more than anything else that he'd lose Clark for good. He hadn't wanted to lose him completely, so on his last day in Smallville before they started college he told him that they should go back to being friends. Clark had asked if he'd done something wrong and Bruce had just told him the same things that Diana had told him. He'd told him that when they graduated they could be together again. Clark had agreed even though Bruce knew he didn't want to - agreed and told him goodnight. He hadn't kissed him like he'd done every night that summer and Bruce wanted to take it all back. But he thought of Clark not being in his life at all and he let him go. 

Bruce had been a fool. They weren't like the kids in that article. Their entire friendship had been long distance. It had stayed that way for years. As Damian sat up grumpy and making sure he was heard, Bruce wondered if he shouldn't have been more afraid that they weren't made to be around each other. 

Breakfast flew by. The twins argued over who got to ride the tractor. The fight was finally broken when Martha asked for one of them to help her with the animals. Jason jumped at the chance to meet the cows. Martha shooed Bruce off to get showered with the promise that she'd get the boys ready. He took his time, washing away the sour feeling the memories from that morning had left him with. 

Martha was in the kitchen with Damian washing dishes. Damian was sitting on the counter drying them. He snorted at the sight. Damian looked up and nearly dropped the plate he was wiping. Martha caught it and told him that Jason was out with Clark. 

He nodded and headed out after them. He saw them out in the field chasing after one of the dogs and headed to the barn. They'd have to stop by eventually, Jason's cows were in there. He walked in and the smell hit him immediately. He didn't think he'd ever forget it. He looked around at some of the tools that had changed and updated over the years, but so much of it had stayed the same. A heavy blanket was draped over one of the rungs on the ladder leading up to the loft. A nostalgic curiosity overtook him and he found himself climbing up the ladder. 

The loft hadn't changed much in the last few decades. The paper of the posters tacked to the wall was warped and faded, but still hung there. The old record player sat in the corner. Bruce brushed the thick layer of dust off the top of the cabinet. He remembered getting the giant thing up here. Clark had bought it at a garage sale for ten bucks when they were maybe 14. Jonathan had been mad at him for wasting his money to cart a hunk of wood home when the radio and record player in it didn't even work. They'd spent a week cleaning and replacing wires that were chewed through. The radio never did pick up anything but AM stations. He remembered the first time they heard a voice come over the speakers though, just some news station reporting on the weather. They'd laid there listened to the drab voice drone on about pressure systems and felt accomplished. Clark had snuck out one of his mom's Christmas records when they thought that they'd fixed the record player. When Sinatra's voice crackled to life Clark had jumped and nearly fallen over the edge of the loft. He still thought about that day and listening to Clark's laughter anytime White Christmas played. He opened the lid. And there it was, the same record that had played on the last night Bruce had been up here. He wondered if Clark had ever come back up here. Or if the appeal of his own private sanctuary had faded after they'd left for college. He moved the needle and out of curiosity's sake turned it on. He heard the small boom of the power kicking on. When he let the needle fall and the motor start to spin he felt the music slide over him and he was eighteen again.

_"What's so secret about this?" Bruce asked as he put the record on the table._

_"It's not a secret. It's a surprise," Clark replied. Bruce scoffed._

_"That's the same thing, isn't it?" He flipped the switch and glanced back at Clark who was still fiddling with the string of lights that they'd strung up a few months ago that didn't like to stay up. When he put the needle down on the record and the music started he frowned trying to place the song. Clark had spent hours forcing him to listen to every record that his mom owned. Bruce didn't know if he'd ever heard this though. He startled when Clark's arms wrapped around him as the lyrics came in. Bruce snorted a laugh, but ran his hands over Clark's as he held him tighter._

_"Yearning," Clark sang along against his neck as he kissed it. "Yearning from wanting you."_

_Bruce turned and pulled Clark into a kiss. "Are you sure?" he asked when he pulled back._

_"Let me hold you," Clark said along with the lyrics. Bruce rolled his eyes and Clark laughed. "I'm sure. I love you."_

_Bruce should have known. He should have suspected Clark was up to something when he washed the blankets that he kept up in the loft. And how many times he checked that his parents would be gone all day. But he hadn't. And as Clark kissed him and drew his shirt over his head he didn't mind this surprise. He let the words and Clark's touch brush over him. Let himself get swept up in the emotion of their first time and didn't think about him going back to Gotham in a few weeks or college a week after that. He just focused on Clark, in his arms, trembling between his thighs. His gasp had rocked through the silence between songs. He held on as Clark moved so sweetly inside of him, kissing him all over, whispering how much he loved him until neither of them had words and they were left with only breaths and moans and--_

"These lights never did stay up," Clark said, voice deeper than the one in his memory. Bruce jumped, his arms still wrapped around himself as Otis Redding sang about needing somebody to treat him right. 

"No," he whispered. He cleared his throat. "They didn't." 

The loft felt so small then with Clark standing just a few feet away, the memory of the last time they had been up here together so fresh in his mind. The song ended and he moved without thinking. 

Clark's arms wrapped around him as soon as their lips crashed together, in a rough clumsy mess. It was strange kissing Clark again, but even though they fumbled for a moment, it felt right. Kissing Clark, here in their hide away in the middle of nowhere. Bruce softened the kiss a moment later. He had missed this, missed Clark. He held onto the back of Clark's neck as he pulled away. His eyes closed trying to savor that moment. "Bruce?" 

"Daddy!" Jason screamed. 

His eyes shot open and he was moving to the ladder. His ankle throbbed when he dropped down. He was getting old. He ran out the barn door as Martha rushed out of the back door with Damian in her arms. Jason was standing on top of a bucket surrounded by all of the chickens who were clucking and pecking at the seed around him. Jason called out for him again and Bruce chuckled as he climbed over the fence and picked Jason up who crawled up onto his shoulders. He smiled at Clark as he handed Jason over before hopping back over the fence. 

Jason wouldn't let Clark put him down when they eventually made it back to the barn and the cows. He clung onto the shoulder of his shirt as the cows walked over to see them. They had never had shy cows, most of them knowing only the Kent's touch and that made them curious. But the chicken attack had taken a toll on Jason and he shook his head when Clark asked him if he wanted to pet one, reaching out for his dad. 

Bruce took Jason back inside while Clark pulled out the small stool and got to milking the cows before he could follow them back in. He watched them as they turned the corner, Bruce meeting his gaze for the smallest of moments before he was gone. Clark frowned and focused on the bucket in front of him, trying to keep his eyes from drifting with his mind back to the loft. 

He hadn't been up there since the first time that he'd brought Lois home to meet his parents. It had been cold and the string lights fell on her as soon as they got to the top. She'd thought the whole thing was charming, telling Clark that she could see him there, young Clark Kent plotting his world domination in his barn fortress smack dab in the middle of nowhere. He had laughed it off but even then, Clark had felt like it was wrong to have her there. Walking around through the memories he had built with Bruce when he still thought that he would be his forever guy. 

He took the milk inside and poured it through the strainer and into the empty glass jugs that had been freshly washed. He washed out the bucket and went to set it upside down on the porch when his father and Tim pulled up on the tractor. He grinned as Tim waved at him so hard he almost fell off. Clark jogged out to meet them and helped Tim off as his dad told him that he was gonna get the tractor cleaned off and put away. 

You would think that Tim had gone to space instead of riding a tractor through a Kansas cornfield. He kept telling Clark about the gear shift and how Jonathan had let him use it the _whole_ time. Clark confirmed that it made him a master tractor driver. They met the others at the table where Martha was trying to teach Jason and Bruce how to play hearts. She waved the boys over into the game, and Clark pulled Tim onto his lap so that they could be a team. Tim caught on fast and had won them four hands almost unguided by the time that his father joined them at the table and Jason joined Bruce so they could deal him in. Jonathan Kent was an undefeated hearts champion. And though Tim gave him a good run, he won the hand. 

They set a new hand as Martha and Clark retreated to the kitchen to start on lunch, Jason trailing after them now that he had decided Hearts was too hard. Clark pulled the step stool out of the pantry and set it up next to the stove so that he could throw what Martha chopped into the pot and Clark could supervise the stirring. His mother stepped out for a moment and Clark stood behind Jason, guiding his hands as they chopped an onion for the chili. He let go when they got to the end of it and let Jason do the last few slow chops. He beamed at him demanding to know if Clark saw how he'd done it. He laughed and ruffled his hair as they added it to the pot and turned to see his mom in the doorway, tears streaming freely down her face. And it was like a rock had dropped in his stomach. 

"Why don't you go clean up?" He asked Jason, a rasp in his voice that Jason didn't seem to pick up on. He agreed and scampered out the door that led out to the dining room so that Clark could turn to his mother. "Ma…"

"I'm sorry," she gasped and tried to bat him away as she turned to the wall to wipe her eyes. "I'm sorry, honey. I just need a moment." He reached out to her but she walked back out to the living room and left him alone to deal with his own hurt and guilt. He stirred the pot as his mom put on a record, Ben E. King rolling through the doorway. He needed to shake this off. He knew that if Lois could, she would reach out to him from the afterlife and shake him herself. They had talked about this. Never seriously, but the death of your spouse is always something that comes up eventually. And they had both agreed that if one of them died, they wanted the other to try again. Lois had loved Bruce. She had been shocked and delighted when Clark finally admitted to her that he had dated Bruce. And he knew that if he'd told her that he wanted to try again, she would want it to be with Bruce. 

But then there was the question of if Bruce even wanted that. He had kissed him, but that had been in the loft. It was _their_ place mixed with a lot of memories and emotions. Clark wasn't sure that he could hold him to what had happened. But he was also pretty sure that he wanted to. 

He put a lid on the chili to let it simmer and walked back into the empty dining room. He frowned and kept going. Finding Bruce leaning in the arch way that led to the living room as he watched his parents dancing slowly to Stand By Me. They were so lost in eachother, his dad singing softly as he comforted his mother, that they didn't notice Clark walk up behind Bruce and slip his arms around his waist. Bruce stiffened in surprise, but he relaxed against Clark's chest so easily as Clark tucked his head into his neck. 

He knew that this didn't have to mean anything. It was a hug, hugs had an array of different meanings-- but it felt like _something_ to Clark. And that was both terrifying and exhilarating all at once. "You smell like grass," Clark grumbled into his shoulder remembering when they were kids and they would lay in the front yard looking at the clouds for hours. But Jason and Tim were running back before Bruce had a chance to say anything back. Clark stepped away from him before they saw and Jason dragged him back to the kitchen. 

Damian spent the entire afternoon glaring at Clark from Martha's lap. Clark commented on it before they started eating, and slowly everyone noticed that he was actually glaring at Clark and not in one of his normal bad moods. Jonathan even managed to get a laugh out of him when he dropped his spoon. Clark had jumped like he'd been shot as the toddler laughed. Bruce pat his shoulder and Damian shouted. 

"Hey. No shouting. Eat," Bruce admonished. Damian's eyes narrowed, but he went back to his food. The conversation moved around the table, occasionally circling back to the murderous look on his son's face. 

"You know he looks more and more like you every day," Clark mumbled when they carried the dirty dishes back to the sink. Bruce glanced over to Clark who looked like he wasn't completely comfortable giving Damian his back. 

He shook his head and they fell side by side washing and drying. Their arms brushed and Clark leaned against him. He smiled. Damian screamed and Clark nearly knocked a stack of bowls off the counter. Bruce caught them as he turned to look at the boy standing in the doorway looking like he was seconds away from a nuclear meltdown. 

"I'm going to take him outside," he said and picked Damian up. Clark nodded. He could see Damian continue to glare at him. "What's wrong buddy?" he asked as they stepped outside. Damian's eyes watered as his mouth wobbled. He looked up at him like he just wanted his dad just to _know_ what was wrong. "I'm sorry," he told him as the tears started to fall. He walked around the front yard before taking him over to the barn. Damian's tears stopped when he heard the low noise from one of the cows. Bruce walked them over. Damian's eyes got big as he stared at the cow. He stood him on one of the cross planks on the door and took his hand. Damian stared at their hands as he touched the cow's head. He laughed and Bruce smiled as Damian's laugh continued. His fingers brushed over the ears, then down to the noise. He giggled high and delighted as he touched the wetness. 

"Maybe you should get a cow," Clark commented. When Bruce looked over he saw his phone lowering. Damian turned when Clark leaned against the railing next to him. His glare was back. The cow moved though and his attention went right back to the animal. 

"If I didn't think I'd end up with an entire farm, I would." Clark wrapped his arm around him. Damian yelled and pushed at Clark's shoulder. 

"Okay, so it's definitely me," Clark said. Bruce took Damian off the railing when he looked like he was going to fall from pushing on Clark. "I don't know what I did?" When Clark moved closer Damian's frown turned into a yell. 

"I don't think he wants you touching me," Bruce said, his voice laced with amusement. When he looked at Clark though his smile dropped off his face. He looked devastated. "He's just being clingy. He does this. He got really mad at Tim for a few weeks, did the same thing." He took Clark's hand and Damian harrumphed up at him. "I can hug him too," he told Damian. He squeezed Damian then squeezed Clark's hand. Damian pouted up at him, but didn't yell again. 

He leaned against the fence as Damian followed one of the chickens around the pen. Clark was on the other side and after a few minutes his arms snaked through the fence and he rested his head on his shoulder. He had forgotten how good it felt. Clark had always wrapped himself around him whenever he got the chance. When they were in public Clark's arm spent most of its time draped over his shoulders. He was an inch shorter than Clark, but according to him it was the perfect difference. He could tuck his head into his neck like he was then. 

"I think your son has become the chickens' god," Clark mumbled. Damian was walking around and the entire group of chickens were following him. He chuckled and put his hand over Clark's where it rested on his own arm. 

"He's a natural born leader." 

"Maybe he hasn't spoken yet because he can only speak to animals." 

"I'd laugh if I didn't think it might be true," Bruce replied. 

"Boys, we're going to get ice cream. Do you want to come?" 

"We're good Ma," Clark hollered back with a wave. 

"You ever wish you'd stayed?" 

"What-- in Smallville?" Clark asked. He nodded. Clark chuckled. "No. Maybe if I hadn't ever visited you I'd have been satisfied with this every day, but once I saw Gotham. The buildings and the lights, all those people always moving? I knew I wanted to be out in that world." 

"I don't think I ever asked. Why Metropolis then?" 

"You're going to laugh at me," Clark said and his arms shifted around him. "I liked the library." 

"What?" he said, a laugh startled out of him. Clark pinched him and he squeaked, which in turn made Clark laugh. 

"My parents made me do all those school visits. And I liked the library. It was big, but had a bunch of corners you could tuck yourself into. You had said you were going to that fancy school up in New England, so I didn't have a reason to pick Gotham."

"Would you have? If you'd known I would end up at Gotham?" 

"Of course," Clark said. 

"Even without the fancy library?" 

"I'd have gone to a Community College where the history professor just played documentaries on YouTube if it meant staying with you." 

Damian walked over and the chickens stood behind him, like an army supporting its general. For a moment Bruce wished that he was on the other side of the fence. Damian held his hands up and Clark let go of him so Bruce could pick him up. Damian waved as they left the chicken pen. Clark shooing them back in the fence when they tried to follow them out.

"I wish I hadn't tried to piss Alfred off," he admitted. 

"What?" 

"I asked him where he thought I should go. I didn't want to leave home, leave Dick. But I wanted to see more of the world. He kept telling me that it was my decision to make, but I knew he didn't want me to leave. So I kept pushing and he kept looking more and more distressed at the thought of me leaving, but he never told me to stay. Dick cried the entire morning that I was supposed to be leaving for school and Alfred finally asked if I was sure I wanted to go to school so far away."

"So you stayed in Gotham?"

"So I stayed." 

-

When Bruce woke up the next morning, Clark was in the bed next to him and a blanket was tossed over them both. Damian laid between them. They'd stayed up talking about stories that they both knew and had heard a hundred times, but that still felt nice to laugh about. He wanted to stay. He was tired of the noise and the people in the city. He missed feeling like he was home. But maybe that had less to do with where they were and more to do with the man beside him. Because Gotham hadn't been so unbearable since he got back. 

Clark woke up with Damian curled into his shoulder, which was more surprising than him waking up in the guest room with Bruce grinning at him. He bit his lip and attempted to slip away from him, but the toddler made an angry noise and fisted his fat little fingers into Clark's collar. 

"Why is he more terrifying when he's asleep?" He whispered at Bruce who was trying and failing to stifle his laughter. 

"He's dreaming about turning the chickens against you," Bruce told him and Clark couldn't help but laugh loud enough for Damian to wake up. He looked up at Clark with the most adorable angry little face he had ever seen and shoved his hand into his jaw trying to get away from him as he turned to his father wounded. 

Damian didn't let either of them near him all morning, choosing instead to sit in Martha's lap until breakfast was over and he felt prepared to forgive his father. He was humming at Bruce in disgruntled upset when Clark followed his mother into the kitchen to put on another pot of coffee. He could feel her staring between his shoulders but didn't say anything until he set the pot to brew and leaned against the counter. She was smiling at him, a little knowing look in her eyes as she scrubbed her bacon pan. 

"Penny for your thoughts," he told her suspiciously and her smile widened before she could quell it. 

She shrugged to offset it. "I just think it's nice that you and Bruce seemed so cozy last night. Reminded me of when y'all were younger, blushing every time either one of you walked into a room."

"We did not!" He argued but smiled at the floor because he knew that she was right. 

She flicked water at him and when she saw the red in his cheeks her eyes went soft. "Are you two..?"

"No," he said quickly shaking his head. "No, not really." He hesitated and frowned slightly as he thought about Bruce kissing him in the barn. About holding his hand as they walked through the field and him leaning back against him in the chicken pen. "But maybe?" He sighed and groaned into his hands. "I don't know, Ma." He heard the sink shut off and after a moment his mom was in front of him, pulling his hands down. "I _want_ it to be something. But then I feel guilty for even thinking about it."

"Oh honey," Martha breathed and shook her head and she pat his cheek. "There is no right or wrong way to have a new relationship after you lose a spouse. No right time to try again. Trust me, I'm in a support group." Clark smiled despite himself. "But it's been three years. Lois and the boys loved you so much, Clark. They would want you to be happy in whatever way you can. And Bruce has always made you so happy… honestly I thought this might happen sooner, he's the only person you talked to when you left."

"He's my best friend…" he muttered. "What if we break up."

"You already survived that once," she reminded him. "And even then… you were so in love." She pinched his cheek and went to grab fresh mugs for everyone. "You don't have to make any decisions now. But I don't think the conversation would be unwelcome from the other end."

Clark sighed and kissed her cheek when she handed the mugs over with a knowing look. "Thanks, Ma," he muttered and took the coffee back out to the group. 

Damian didn't allow him a moment with Bruce for the rest of the day, having a near melt down anytime he was in arm's reach. So Bruce stayed home with him helping Martha around the house as Clark and his father took the boys to the old Drive In. Jason loved the idea of sitting in the back of the pick up to watch a movie and spent the entire time asking questions about why chickens were scarier than dinosaurs. 

Tim was quiet for the entire movie and most of the way back looking pensive for some reason even though he insisted that he was fine. He dragged his feet as they walked back into the house Jason told Bruce all about the movie. Clark watched him while his dad jumped in and then Tim met his eyes he motioned for him to follow him upstairs. 

"Do you want to see something really cool?" He asked when they reached the foot of the stairs. Tim's eyes lit up. He nodded eagerly and followed Clark as quietly as he could up the stairs. He hesitated at the opening of his bedroom like he was about to walk into a space ship until Clark pat the side of his bed and he all but ran to scramble into place. 

Clark smiled at him and pulled out the small wooden trunk from under his bed. "What is it?" Tim asked in amazement. 

"This-- is a box of all of my most important things from when I was growing up," Clark told him very seriously. "Do you want to see what's inside it?"

Tim looked like he wanted that more than he wanted to breathe. He jumped off of the bed and kneeled on the floor next to Clark in front of the chest as he opened it slowly milking the moment. Most of the stuff inside was old junk, but to Tim it was treasure. He pulled things out slowly asking for their stories and taking in everything as Clark went through it with him. He was especially taken with his old Topeka Pilot's cap that he had found in an old junk yard when he was twelve and an undeveloped roll of film that Tim went wide eyed at when Clark told him he could have it even though he didn't know what it was. 

"That makes it better!" He told him under the brim of the cap grinning as he reached for the last thing in the chest. A little blue felt box. He popped it open and blinked at the old copper ring looking up at him. "What's this?" Tim asked in awe and handed it over when Clark held out his hand for it. 

His chest felt tight looking at the ring. He had made it right after his senior year out of an old penny that Bruce had given him right after they had met. It was their good luck penny. They had been passing it around, sending it back and forth their entire lives when either of them had something important to face. It had been made in 1900, so it was real copper, solid and unbreakable. It had taken him weeks to hammer it out into a ring. He had almost forgotten it existed. Almost. Clark cleared his throat. 

"This one is a secret," he told Tim poking his nose. 

"But I'm good at secrets!" Tim insisted with a pout. 

Clark chuckled. "I know buddy. But this one is just for me." He winked at him. 

Tim still pouted but he nodded as they put all of the treasures back save for the hat, the film and the ring. He slipped it into his pocket as they made their way downstairs and Tim ran into Bruce's legs in his eagerness to show him his new hat. Jonathan had laughed and launched into the story of how they found it, engrossing the twins completely. 

"Where did you find that?" Bruce asked when he sat next to him on the couch. Damian was helping Martha in the kitchen so he could actually get close enough to him to put his arm over the back of the couch. 

"In a box of secrets." He grinned. 

Bruce narrowed his eyes. "Anything I should know about?"

"Probably." Clark shrugged with a grin. 

Bruce waited and then frowned at him and prodded, "Anything you are going to tell me?" 

Clark chuckled. "You'll have to figure out a way to get it out of me," he told him with a wink. 

"You never were very good at flirting," he commented with a laugh. 

"Hey!" Clark yelped. Bruce laughed and Tim turned from Jonathan with an excited smile. "It worked on you just fine," Clark mumbled. 

"What did?" Tim asked crawling into his lap. Bruce looked at Clark with a raised eyebrow. Clark hesitated for a moment before he shook himself and his eyes lit up. 

"I know his ticklish spot," Clark said. Bruce jerked, but before he could escape Clark had dug his fingers into his side. Tim joined in, his laughter loud and bright above him. 

"I hate you," he whispered as he caught his breath. Tim had snuck off to attack Jason. 

"No you don't," Clark replied with a wide smile. 

_No. He really didn't._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bloop.


	6. Chapter 6

The next morning Jason went out with Jonathan. Bruce followed Tim and Clark around as they talked about the animals and Tim kept adjusting the hat that was just a little too big for his head even after Bruce had tightened it as tight as it would go. Martha joined them a few hours later with a fussy Damian. Bruce took him and on a whim plopped him with the chickens. He stopped whimpering and started walking around making noises at the chickens as he pet each one. Martha grabbed a chair and sat with him in the pen. 

Bruce leaned over the fence. He listened to Damian while watching Tim and Clark walk one of the cows out of the barn. He smiled as he watched Tim who was squeaking every time he managed to get milk into the bucket. Clark was outright laughing as he watched over him and coached him through the process. He closed his eyes and let the sound soak into him. He had missed it. 

He volunteered to make lunch when Tim started commenting on being hungry. Martha cooed over his rough looking sandwiches while they ate at the table set up next to the house. Damian spent most of the meal trying to take his to the chickens. He got as far as the fence before Bruce caught him and held him in his lap as he tore the sandwich to shreds. 

"You sure we can't persuade you to stay a little longer?" Martha asked. They were leaving the next day. He'd never seen her look so disappointed. 

"I have a few meetings on Monday that I can't move. I wish that we could. I forgot how much I missed being out here." She smiled a little sadly. 

"Plus it's almost the twin's birthday. And I think there was a party?" Clark added with a look to Tim. 

"Our whole class is coming!" Tim chimed in and Martha talked to him for a while about what he was excited about. 

Bruce looked up when he heard the rumble of the tractor. They were back earlier than he had expected, but he was pretty sure that Jonathan hadn't actually needed to do anything with the tractor and had just taken Jason out to be fair. 

"Hey!" Jason called and stuck his head out. Bruce waved. The tractor jerked to a stop and he saw Jason's startled face before he started to fall. It was like the world slowed down. He stood, but it was impossible for him to reach them. Jonathan's hand reached out and he caught Jason's shirt, but the fabric slipped free and Jason hit the ground with a heavy thump. Jonathan was already there touching his head and murmuring reassuring words when Bruce got there. 

Jason was crying. His eyes were wide and he cried out for him as soon as he saw him. 

"I'm here. Don't move yet, let Jonathan check on you." 

"He looks okay. He landed pretty hard on his arm though We should probably head into town." 

And so they spent the rest of the evening at the hospital. Clark and Martha had stayed with the boys. Tim had hid behind Clark when Bruce asked if he wanted to come with them. Jonathan apologized a few times, that he hadn't seen him slip out of the seat belt. He told him that he knew it was an accident. Jason had been pretty stoked by the time the doctor came back and started wrapping his arm in the cast. Bruce held into his oldest's free hand and tried not to get lost thinking about the last time he'd been at the hospital. Tim's cries echoing in the room any time a stranger got close to him. Talia's terrified expression as she sat on the examination table with Tim in her lap. The waiting to hear if he'd been hurt beyond the bruises he could see on his arms. 

"Can you sign it?" Jason asked, holding his arm up to his face. 

"I think Tim will want to sign it first, but we'll all sign it for you," Bruce answered, shocked back into the present. 

The pain pills finally kicked in as they climbed back into the pick up and Jason fell asleep before he even got him buckled in.

"He reminds me a lot of Clark," Jonathan said. Bruce looked over to him. Jason was asleep in his lap. He brushed his hand through his hair trying to soothe the wrinkle in his forehead. "He was always finding his way places where he didn't belong. He fell off an old silo when he was six. Thought Martha was going to have a heart attack. But Clark laughed just like Jason did as the doc fixed him up. Jason at least has a little fear in him. I heard about the chickens." 

Bruce laughed. "I think some of it is that he wants to be brave for Tim. He likes to do things first so Tim sees it's safe. He'll pretend that he's not scared." 

Jason woke up enough to get everyone's signature. Damian even scratched some letters onto the side. He had taken a picture for Talia of the look of pure concentration as he held the sharpie. Clark had snatched it away as soon as Damian had finished. 

"How about we head to bed?" 

Tim bathed and Bruce helped Jason get washed and not get his cast wet. He watched them drift off and then for a while longer. Clark took his hand and he jumped as he turned. "Come on. They're fine." 

He let Clark pull him back to the spare bedroom where Damian was sleeping in the middle of the bed. 

Bruce got changed as Clark shifted Damian over carefully as if he was moving a bomb that could go off any moment. 

"If you wake him up he'll hate you forever," he said and slid into the bed. 

"He already hates me," Clark replied. "I just don't want him to hate me any more. At least two of your kids like me." Damian rolled over back into the spot Clark had just moved him from. Bruce stifled a laugh and Clark settled in an L shape around him. He turned to look at him. He touched his hair, brushing back the loose strands. Clark's eyes closed. 

"Do you remember our lucky penny?" 

"The one you lost right before my History final?" 

Clark smiled. "Yeah. That one. And you passed." 

"I got a B. I remember vividly because it was my first one." 

Clark laughed, but didn't say anything. Bruce let the silence stretch and listened to Damian's quiet breaths before he looked back up at Clark. "What made you bring it up?" 

"Oh I was just thinking about some of our old stuff."

"Do you remember that plaid shirt you swore was cursed?" he asked. Clark laughed and they talked about all the bad things that had happened in that shirt, running through years of bad luck and shitty timing. He touched Clark's jaw as he pouted and lifted it enough before he kissed him. "Our first kiss was in that shirt," he said when he pulled back, his heart beating heavily in his chest. "So not all bad." 

Clark shifted closer and kissed him. They pulled away when Damian started whining in his sleep. Clark jumped up. "I should go to bed. We have a long day tomorrow." 

"Okay," he replied, unable to stop smiling. 

"Goodnight," Clark said and darted in for a kiss before fleeing when Damian rolled over with a grunt. 

-

The boys woke him up early with urgent pleas for him to hurry. Damian was already awake and running around the room behind them just as excited. He got changed and picked Damian up before following the boys out into the living room. There was a stack of boxes sitting on the table. 

"Can we open them now?" they asked. Twin eyes peering up at him. He sighed and settled on the couch next to Martha. Clark and Jonathan were on the other couch whispering to each other. 

"You didn't have to," he said, like he did every year. Martha waved him off and told the boys to get at it. He knew what was in the boxes. They always got them board games. Jason pulled out a Home Alone game. Tim opened Settlers of Catan. Bruce looked up at Clark and laughed. They'd nearly come to blows over a game years ago. Jason opened Jumanji and shrieked. Tim tore open a maze game that Bruce had never seen before. Tim started reading the box as Jason told Damian that he was going to turn into a monkey as he pointed to the Jumanji box. 

"Boys," Bruce said. They both perked up. He looked over to Martha. 

"Thank you!" They shouted together and hugged her. Jason whacked him with his cast. They both moved together to hug Jonathan, then probably because he was right there hugged Clark too. 

He let the boys play Jumanji with Clark and Damian while he helped Martha make lunch. He didn't actually help with lunch, instead he packed all of their stuff back up. He knew the boys wouldn't want to leave. He set Jason's bag on the bed next to the other three and sighed. He didn't really want to leave either. He didn't know what going back to Gotham meant. Would whatever was happening with Clark end? 

"Lunch is ready," Clark said leaning in the doorway. He stepped in fully with a frown. "My dad's packing up the games. He said he can ship them." 

He looked at Clark and felt the question on the tip of his tongue. He swallowed and turned back to the bags. 

"Oh no. If he can spare a bag we can manage. Might get us a few hours of quiet." 

Leaving was worse than he expected. Damian refused to let go of Martha. Jason and Tim kept angrily doing everything, Clark finally just picked Jason up and carried him away when he refused to walk. Tim at least followed after him, pouting and pitiful as Bruce tried again to pry Damian's fingers off of Martha's shirt. 

Clark came back and Bruce looked back at the plane. "I locked him in the bathroom." Bruce laughed at the guilt covering his face. 

"Just help me with this." 

Clark took Damian who let go of Martha with one hand to beat at Clark. They both worked on the remaining hand and Clark cheered when he was able to step back with Damian in his arms. Damian's yells cut off and he stared at Clark. Bruce saw the moment of terror in Clark's eyes before he pecked a kiss on Martha's cheek, thanked her for having them, and took his son before Damian started screaming. "Say goodbye to your mom," he said and bumped Clark. 

He left Jason in the restroom until Clark was on the plane and the door was locked. Jason pouted at Clark for a few minutes until the pilot came over the intercom and they had to sit down. 

-

He carried Tim and Damian into the manor. Clark had Jason, who had forgiven him before the plane had even reached cruising altitude. 

"The bags can wait right?" Clark asked.

He hummed and set Damian down in his bed. Clark followed him to his room and without a word settled in the bed behind him. He closed his eyes. Maybe nothing would change just because they were back. 

When he woke up, Clark was still passed out next to him. He laid there for a few more minutes watching him sleep before he knew he had to get up. 

As soon as he opened the door Jason started yelling for him. Clark jerked and sat up. He looked back at him. "Home sweet home," he offered. 

"Jason! No yelling!" he called down the hall. 

\---

He had hoped that he and Bruce would have a minute to talk about what all had come up in Smallville, but as soon as they were up, the twins demanded attention. 

Everything was about the party, Tim had all of these crazy ideas that they had no way of making happen and Jason dictated every decoration that he and Bruce strung up. Damian was furious that no one was paying attention to him. He kept screaming and kicking at Alfred until Bruce finally caved and picked him up. It was rough only having two hands for the set up, but it gave Alfred more time to get snacks and cake ready. They would start the barbecue when the class and parents started coming by. 

It was a relief when Talia walked in about an hour before the party. She blinked at them as soon as she walked into the backyard and saw Clark and Bruce desperately trying to untangle Titus from a rope of blue and green flags. She snapped into mom mode immediately, taking Damian from Bruce and telling them what to do with him on her hip. Jason and Tim busied themselves trying out the bounce house to _make sure it worked correctly_ before everyone got there. They just managed to get everything set and the grill lit before the first couple of guests knocked on the door. 

"Hey." Clark sighed a smile at Talia when Bruce went inside to grab a sharpie for the paper cups. He hadn't had a chance to say hello to her in all the craziness going on and she grinned. 

"Hey yourself," she told him and hugged him with her free arm. Damian pouted but he didn't try to push him away like he had the entire week before. It must have been Bruce being preoccupied with the twins. He didn't know how to be mad at both of them. 

"How was Lex?" He asked nodding at the few parents following Bruce out as their kids whizzed by them.

"Horrible as always," she assured him. "Could probably use a good verbal smack down from his arch nemesis." 

He rolled his eyes. "Maybe if he did something interesting." 

"Ouch," she hissed at his lame burn. He smiled at one of the moms that she recognized before she excused herself to go talk to them. 

Clark was almost done with the first round of hot dogs and burgers when Damian came waddling over to him. He glared up at Clark but leaned against his leg, grabbing as his pants as he watched the older kids run by. Clark blinked down at him and looked around until he caught Bruce's eye raising an eyebrow at him. Bruce looked like he wanted out of whatever conversation he was having, but the group of dads had roped him in. He tried not to make a big deal out of it, knowing Damian would just as soon walk away from him. Damian made a noise when he watched his dad pick up Tim when he ran over to him laughing. His little hand tightened on his jeans. 

"You know he still loves you right?" Clark asked. 

"Gob dah," he grumbled still glaring at them and he pointed his glare up at Clark. "Hah ah nah?" 

"Of course," he told him easily. "But you are getting bigger now too. You have to get used to sharing."

Damian didn't like that answer to his fictional question. But Titus came by and Damian waddled off with his hand on him to explore the party. 

Clark pulled all the burgers and dogs off the grill and closed the hood. He carried them over to the table and called out that lunch was ready. He laughed as the kids started to swarm. He helped them get their food put together, making sure they didn't cover themselves in mustard or pickle juice. 

"You're really good at this," said one of the moms who had been talking to Talia earlier when he walked into Bruce's circle to force a burger on him. 

He laughed it off. "I've had a couple of my own," he said easily. He gave Bruce a pointed look and warned him, "You eat this or I'll come back."

"You just gave me a reason not to," he told him and Clark laughed, caught off guard by how openly he'd just flirted with him. 

"Guess I'm coming back regardless. Thirsty?" 

"Parched," Bruce deadpanned at his double entendre.

He smirked. "I'll be right back," he promised squeezing his side and turned back to grab a few sodas. He could hear the group muttering about him as he walked off. When he got to the cooler he saw Bruce smiling shyly at him as he laughed with the group. Talia was next to him now talking with a grin as she squeezed his arm. 

The scream surprised him. He jumped as it raked through the party and turned to find Damian running as fast as his little legs would carry him over to Clark. He didn't even have time to be surprised. Damian looked up at him with big water eyes and made grabby hands until Clark picked him up and walked him over to the table. He tried to sit him down so he could look him over but he wouldn't let go of his shirt so he tucked him into his arm and tried to figure out what had happened. He noticed a scuff on his pants and Damian wailed louder when he went to roll up the leg of it. 

"You gotta trust me buddy. I'm just gonna look, okay?" Damian seemed to understand him because he let out a few quick huffs and let him roll up his pants. 

Bruce was there as soon as he got it up watching with big worried eyes. "Is he okay?"

"Just got a little scrape," he reassured him wishing they weren't surrounded by children and strangers so he could kiss his frown away. "But D is a tough guy, right?"

"Ah ah," he said wiping at his eyes, sniffling his tears away. 

"Want to go pick out a cool band aid?" He asked and Damian made a noise again. 

Bruce looked unsure like he didn't know what to do with his hands. Then Jason yelled for him and Clark squeezed his arm. "I've got this. We'll be right back," he promised and Damian laid his head into Clark's chest as he carried him inside. 

Bruce watched Clark walk away with Damian tucked against his chest. He answered Jason's question then stood there wanting to go after them. 

"He's going to bring him back," Talia said. 

"I know that," he replied trying to relax. He knew that this change was a good thing. That Damian letting someone other than him hold him was something he should be happy about and the look on Clark's face earlier that afternoon was something Bruce wanted to keep seeing. But he still worried. 

"You look happier. That visit to Smallville did you good. The both of you." 

"It did," he replied. He glanced over to her. She was smiling at him, and it looked genuine. "I wanted to ask-" 

"I gave you your answer already." He frowned. She smiled at him and sighed. "But if you need to hear it again. He loves our kids. They love him. He makes you happy. And you make him look like he's finally breathing again. Do you really need my permission?" She raised an eyebrow. 

Tim ran over to them. Bruce looked back at her as he was dragged off. "Thanks," he told her. She rolled her eyes and headed back over to the other moms. 

Jason and Tim spent the entire evening retelling everything they'd done and all of their presents. Damian followed Clark around for the rest of the night. Clark looked a little spooked by it at first, but he could tell that he enjoyed the change when they settled down to watch a movie and Damian plopped in his lap. He stared down at him as he fell asleep starfished on his chest. 

"I don't think he hates you anymore," he said when Talia took the twins to bed. 

"I still don't know if I want to chance waking him up," Clark replied. 

"Damian," he said softly. The boy turned and pressed his face into Clark's shirt when he repeated his name. Clark stifled a laugh as Damian continued to move his head around when Bruce got closer. "Guess I'm sleeping with Goliath then," Bruce said. 

"Ah!" Damian gasped and sat up. He offered him his hand and he climbed down and grabbed Goliath before they walked up to his room. Damian's eyes narrowed at Clark for a moment then he held Goliath out to him. Clark took him with a bow of his head that Bruce laughed at. He got Damian changed then Clark returned Goliath. 

Clark turned to head to his room when they stepped out of Damian's, but Bruce caught his hand. Clark squeezed it and they wordlessly went through getting ready for bed. Clark was sitting on the bed with clothes and his toothbrush when Bruce got out of the shower. He traded out and Bruce tried to keep his mind in the present. 

"You okay?" Clark asked when he got out and found Bruce standing at the dresser. He let the jewelry box close and nodded. 

"Fine," he breathed. Clark didn't look like he believed him, but he didn't say anything. He just pulled Bruce into the circle of his arms as soon as they were under the covers and held him. It was the brush of a kiss across his temple that had him sucking in a shaky breath. 

"It's okay," Clark said. He could hear it in his voice that it was okay to let go, okay to break a little. And Clark knew better than anyone this pain. It was such a hard day for him. By the twins' third birthday Bruce had made a promise to himself that he would only think of them and all that was good about that day. Then that night or the next day he could mourn the person that was missing. He could think about another year that had passed, another year the boys had grown older without her to watch them, to teach them all the mischievous things she'd talked about. It had gotten easier over the years. The entire day had dwindled down into a few hours of the morning. But the night was always the hardest. 

He remembered the joy of holding Jason in his arms. The tired smile on Selina's face as she touched his dark hair. And then the fear when he didn't hear a second cry. There was silence for only a moment. Then shouts of the nurses and the panicked beating of the heart monitor broke through. He had been pushed back, still holding Jason in his arms because no one had thought to take him back in the alarm. As the doctor turned off the steady tone and spoke the words Bruce had never wanted to hear Tim's tiny lungs filled the operating room. 

A nurse had finally come and took Jason back. One of them touched his arm a few minutes or maybe hours later and he looked away from his wife lying motionless on the table. He didn't know what she said, but he followed her and the single incubator with Jason wrapped around Tim holding on to his brother. He stayed there until a nurse asked him if he had family waiting. He looked at the boys, so small and didn't want to leave them. She'd told him that she would stay right here until he got back. He didn't know what to say but nodded. 

Dick was the first on his feet when he walked out into the waiting room. The first to him and the one that caught him as his legs gave out and he sobbed into his brother's arms. Alfred stood above them and touched his head. He squeezed Dick tighter as Alfred's thumb moved across his head, soothing, even in its miniscule touch. 

They let him have a room. He spent the night in the bed staring at the babies and their tiny fists, so tightly wound around each other. He didn't remember falling asleep, but when he woke up Lois was sitting on the bed next to him as she cooed at the boys. One of her hands was on his back, rubbing it slowly. He shifted and she looked down at him. 

"They're beautiful," she said with a smile. "What are their names?" 

He'd sat up and though his voice broke a few times he told her their names. He told her how big they were. And how grumpy Jason already was. She had told Jason she would be grumpy too if she were him and Bruce had scoffed. She stayed with him the entire day. And most of the next even though she had an infant of her own. It wasn't until they got back to the manor with the boys in tow that he realized why she wasn't worried. She had Clark. As soon as Bruce had taken a step in the manor, Clark took over. He got him showered and changed. Managed to get him to eat. Set him up in the room next to the nursery. Then let him cry against his chest and held him until he didn't feel as raw and split open as he'd felt for the last two days. 

"I have you," Clark said, repeating those same words he'd said eight years ago. Bruce pulled him closer and closed his eyes. 

In the morning he woke up to a text from Talia that she was taking the boys to the museum and Alfred would take breakfast up in a while. He heard the knock and unwrapped himself from Clark as he padded across the room, his knee clicking as he walked. There were two plates and a few extra bottles of water. Alfred smiled and handed him the tray. "Shall I bring lunch up as well?" He looked back at Clark still sleeping soundly and nodded. 

Clark woke up when the smell of coffee finally reached his nose. They ate in silence, Clark watching him the entire time. 

"I'm not going to suddenly burst into tears," he said flatly. Clark choked on his toast. 

"I know that." 

"You're watching me like you watch Damian." 

"It's not often that I see you cry. I don't know if I've seen it since that first day you came home." 

Bruce chewed on his food and considered his words. 

"I had Talia. She's a surprisingly good big spoon," he said with a laugh. 

"Not actually that surprising," Clark replied with a grin. "Lois always thought that she was good for you. Even when everyone else thought you were moving on too fast." 

"I don't think we would have lasted past my birthday party if it weren't for Lois." 

"What?" Clark asked, he didn't think Clark remembered. He'd flown in from London and had come straight from the airport. His jetlag and the challenge Arthur had immediately dragged him into had Clark drunk and curled in Lois' lap for most of the night. 

"Everyone was talking, butting in where they didn't belong like they always do. They kept asking Talia about kids and her career. And Talia looked at me, like I expected her to put aside her career and raise these kids she'd met only the day before. Then Lois jumped in and started talking to her about her latest project and basically told everyone to shut up in that way she had." He laughed picturing her death smile as Clark had put it. "I think she needed someone else beside me to have her back." 

"Why did you get divorced? You were so happy." 

He shook his head. "We weren't. And Talia couldn't keep pretending that we were."

"Because of the accident?" Clark asked. 

"It was easy to let everyone think that, but I think it just made her realize how long we'd been unhappy. She asked me if I loved her. And I hesitated. I still don't know why. I love her, but I don't know if I was ever in love with her and I think she finally saw that. She told me she needed someone that could love her with their whole heart, not the tiny part that was available." He set his fork down. "I didn't realize until she was gone that she was right. Because I couldn't let Selina go, and I'd never gotten over you." 

Clark's fork dropped to the plate. He watched Clark's throat bob as he swallowed thickly. "You," Clark started then cleared his throat. "But you broke up with me?"

Bruce frowned. He felt that same wild frustration he'd felt when he was eighteen and had listened to Clark tell him about Lois for the first time. "I hadn't wanted it to be for forever," he replied, his voice harsher than he meant it to be. 

"You didn't say that," Clark replied, his voice rising to match his. "You told me that we couldn't date since we were in college." 

"While," he corrected. Clark stared at him and looked a little like he wanted to punch him. He hated when Bruce corrected him. But this was important. "I said while we were in school." 

"While? Since. What does it matter? You told me that you didn't want to date me anymore. What was I supposed to think? Was I supposed to know that it was only temporary? And what does that even mean?"

"I don't know!" he yelled and ran his fingers through his hair. "I don't know. I was afraid I'd lose you."

Clark looked even more confused. 

"There was this article. Diana was telling me-" 

"You told Diana?" Clark's voice was quiet as he spoke. He remembered nervously standing together hands gripping each other so tight as they told Alfred and his small smile in response. He remembered riding that approval into telling his brother and the questions Dick had asked, the confusion and the way he'd avoided them for the rest of the week. They'd agreed then that they wouldn't tell anyone else yet. Even though Dick had gotten over whatever it was, they hadn't changed their mind. It was why Smallville and the farm had been such a haven for them.

"No," he replied with a shake of his head. "We were just talking. She was reading this article about how hard it was to make high school relationships last in college. There were all of these numbers and these quotes. And then she started talking about long distance relationships and the numbers got even worse." He shook his head. "I thought I'd lose you completely. I just thought if we went back to just being friends until we were out of school then we wouldn't-" 

"Bruce-" he looked up at Clark. He felt breathless. "Why didn't you _tell_ me any of this?" 

"Because you'd have told me no."

"Well duh you idiot. I was in love with you. I even-" Clark cut himself off and looked down at his hands eyes widening a fraction. 

"You… what?" 

"I wanted to marry you," Clark said quietly. 

"What?" 

"I didn't- I didn't lose our penny," Clark said, his eyes darting up to Bruce's before dropping back to his lap. "I spent the entire last month of shop class turning it into a ring." 

"You-" He felt his world rock dangerously under him. "You're lying." He had to be. It couldn't be-

Clark looked like he'd slapped him. Then he frowned and stood up. Bruce made a noise and reached after him, but Clark was already out the door. He jumped when the door shut with a heavy thud a few moments later and Clark shoved his hand in his face. He looked down at the bronze ring and his heart wrenched in his chest. He touched it and then took it from Clark. He looked up at him then back at the ring as Clark sat back down. 

"For someone as smart as you are you're so dumb sometimes," Clark said when Bruce slid the ring on his finger and stared at it. It was a little tight, but he swore he could feel that same power to do anything they set their mind to that the penny had given them. 

"You moved on," he said, unable to look away from the ring. 

"You didn't love me anymore." 

Bruce shook his head at how untrue that statement was. "I did. I do," he muttered. He looked up at Clark. "I'm sorry." He moved closer and to his relief Clark didn't move away. "I'm sorry," he repeated then kissed Clark. Clark jumped when the cold metal of the ring touched his neck, but just pulled him in closer and kissed him harder. 

Clark pulled him over him as he laid back against the bed. Bruce heard the clatter of their breakfast sliding to the floor. He held onto Clark's neck and kissed him like he had wanted to do for the last two years. Had dreamt about doing for longer. They weren't boys tumbling around in the barn anymore. Clark's tongue flicked against his and Bruce groaned. He sent a silent thank you to Lois as he fell apart. He rolled them and grabbed Clark's ass as they ground together through the fabric of their pajamas. He hooked his leg over his knee and kept moving as Clark licked and sucked on his neck. He groaned and pushed down Clark's pants far enough to take him in hand. He relished in the low groan that spread across his skin. He took them both in hand and kept Clark close with his other hand as he rocked and moved his hand. Clark's bit at his neck and Bruce moaned hips twitching. He did it again and Bruce rocked harder, thrusting up into the circle of his fingers. 

"That's new," Clark said, his fingers tangling around his. He didn't have enough brainpower left to respond when, Clark's teeth grazed across his neck and Bruce came with a shout. He felt Clark come across his shirt a few breaths later and Bruce sighed when his weight settled mostly over him. 

"I guess I have a new answer for the group now," Clark said with a chuckle. It took a second for Bruce to realize what he was talking about, but when he did he snorted. 

He idly ran his hand over Clark's shoulder and back as they laid together. He watched the ring as it moved over the fabric of his shirt. Clark caught his hand and pulled it close. He kissed his knuckles then looked up at him. "I need that back." 

"What?" he rasped. He wanted to pull his hand away. He finally had the proof that he wouldn't lose Clark that he had wanted all those years ago. 

"It's a little fast don't you think? We're not even dating." 

"We could be," he replied. "If you wanted."

Clark lifted his head to look at him. His head tilted and a soft smile lifted the corners of his mouth. "Of course I want you. I've always wanted you. Just to varying degrees," he said and kissed him. 

They kissed for a few minutes before it got uncomfortable and Bruce wanted a shower. He gave Clark the ring back as he got out of the bed. Clark caught his hand as he turned away. 

"I'll give it back to you. I promise."

Bruce frowned at him in a way that looked so much like Damian that Clark almost laughed. But he held his hand out for Clark to catch before he pulled him off the bed and to the bathroom with him. He watched Bruce's shoulders move as he turned on the shower and pulled his ruined shirt over his head. He had just shaken himself enough to pull his own shirt off when Bruce turned to look at him. His eyes widened in almost fear as they moved down to his chest and he made a noise. 

"What?" Clark asked holding his shirt in front of him as a cover. 

"How are you even real?" Bruce demanded and pulled the shirt away from him. "Only superheroes look like this."

Clark laughed and shook his head. "I've had a lot of time to fill over the last three years," he told him and pulled on his hand. "I'll get softer," he promised and pulled him so that he was pressed into him. He kissed him like they didn't have anywhere else to be, enjoying the feeling of fullness and warmth that he hadn't had in so long. 

"You're distracting me," Bruce grumbled but didn't pull away. 

"I haven't gotten to kiss you in seventeen years," Clark muttered into his lips. "I have to catch up." 

They somehow made it into the shower and when cold water hit them they jumped apart. Bruce cackled at Clark as he shifted on his feet, huddling behind him as he waited for the water to warm up. Bruce rubbed at his arms and when the water was hot, it melted down his shoulders and his eyes fluttered shut. He felt a loofa scrubbing at his chest and smirked, opening his eyes to watch Bruce concentrating very hard on something as he scrubbed at his abs. He did it as quickly as could before he spun Clark around, bossy as ever without a word and worked on his back. It was like heaven. Pure heaven was Bruce scratching love into his skin. He kissed his shoulder when all the soap had washed away and Clark took the loofa from him, switching places. 

He took his time on Bruce, using his hands more than the sponge, feeling all the edges that used to be so hard that had softened over the years. He kissed the back of his neck and ran soap down his arms. 

"Hey," he muttered into his shoulder. Bruce's eyes were still closed and he hummed in acknowledgement. Clark kissed his cheek and breathed past the little block in his chest that he had been slowly poking holes in over the years. "I love you too." 

They spent longer in the shower than they needed to, taking the time to relearn things that used to be second nature. It was hard to go back out to the bedroom, like they would be stepping back into real life with the boys and their mournful pasts. But Bruce took his hand and Clark followed him and it didn't seem so bad. 

Once they got dressed they had to deal with the remnants of their ruined breakfast. Clark teased Bruce for his eagerness while he soaked up spilled coffee in the jeans he had worn the day before and one of Bruce's shirts. He acted angry but he kept getting distracted by the pull of it across Clark's shoulders. 

They carried the dishes down to the kitchen a little after eleven and were surprised to find it empty. Clark did the dishes while he had the chance and Bruce watched him from across the counter grinning as he taunted him saying Alfred was in the doorway when he wasn't. Clark splashed him and Bruce grabbed at his hands and they ended up pressed against the counter making out like they were teenagers again. 

They didn’t actually notice Alfred until he cleared his throat and they looked over at him with swollen lips and guilty faces. He was smirking at them, amusement alight in his eyes as he looked down at the still soapy sink. 

"Master Kent, what have I told you about cleaning in my kitchen?" 

He swallowed still pressed against Bruce, hands on the counter on either side of him. "To… not do it? Sir?" He said feeling like a guilty child. Bruce tucked his head into his shoulder to stifle his laugh. 

Alfred shooed them out of the kitchen until lunch was ready and set on the table. He gave Clark a little squeeze on his shoulder on the way out to give them some privacy. Bruce looked at his watch and sighed, running a hand through his already tousled hair. Clark had always loved the way Bruce looked when they were first up in the morning, rustled and untidy. Sometimes it was the only way he'd been able to convince himself that Bruce was real. Lois had told him the same thing once and Clark was sure he'd fallen in love with her even more as she said it. "Talia will be back with the boys soon," Bruce said looking out the window. He seemed lost in something. 

"Maybe we should finish our conversation."

"From this morning?" Bruce frowned when Clark nodded. "I thought we finished that conversation."

"I think that things were _assumed,_ " Clark told him with a small smile. "But I don't think we actually said or agreed to anything yet."

Bruce leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms, narrowing his eyes slightly at him. "How business-like of you." 

"I learn from the best." Clark grinned at him and Bruce smiled despite himself. 

"Okay," he sighed. "Let's start with what we know."

"I love you," Clark said simply. 

He watched Bruce's shoulder relax and his expression melted. "I love you too."

Clark bit on his lip as his grin widened. "I know you were a stupid teenager." 

"I know you are a buttface," Bruce shot back. 

Clark chuckled at that and then everything just caught in his throat and he had to clear it before he could keep going. "I know that I loved my wife. And my children. And as much as I love you, I'm glad I got to have the time I could with them." 

Bruce pushed his lips together and nodded. He reached and took Clark's hand giving it a squeeze. "I loved Selina… I miss her. And even though I love you, I wish she was still here."

And Clark understood that. He understood that probably more than anyone else in their lives would. And in a strange way it's what made them so natural. "Did you ever tell Selina about us?" Clark asked after thinking about it for a minute. 

"She knew we had dated. But she didn't want any details," Bruce told him. "She was okay with it, but since we were still so close she wasn't sure she'd be able to deal with it." And then he was looking curiously at him. "Did you tell Lois?"

Clark laughed and nodded. "We talked about it all of the time," he admitted sheepishly and shrugged. "I was so nervous on our first date all I did was talk about you and she guessed the rest. She always told me that I should have married both of you and we could have been the perfect thruple." 

Bruce laughed. "You are kidding."

"I'm not." Clark shook his head. "You know… I think that this is what she would have wanted. You and me trying again." Bruce was looking soft again and Clark smiled at him unable to shake off how silly it felt to ask this, "B, do you want to wear my letter jacket?"

And Bruce beamed at him, taking ten years and a lifetime of sorrow out of his face. He leaned across the gap and kissed him. "Yeah. I really do."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Monday everyone! 
> 
> Once again, we are posting in quarenteen and the world is still going to shit. Doesn't Gotham sound amazing right now? Anyway-- we hope all of you guys are safe and healthy and relievely happy? Enjoy the fluff and we will see you next week.
> 
> -Prubbs
> 
> \----AND I JUST REMEMBERED THIS POSTS ON TUESDAY. Please forgive me as I loose my mind... Oh well-- you get _another_ early chapter. See you next week!


	7. Chapter 7

They went up to his room after lunch, joking about finding his letterman again. Clark tugged him away from the closet and back onto the bed. They spent the rest of the afternoon kissing and talking about where they learned things. Bruce laughed when Clark mentioned some of the things Lois had convinced him to try. 

"What?" Clark asked with a pout. 

"Nothing. I'm just regretting not getting my chance to join you two," he replied and bit at Clark's collarbone which he'd learned caused the sweetest noises. 

"You didn't do anything?" 

"Do you really want to know?" Bruce asked. Clark shrugged. "I'm not telling you who it was with. That's not fair to Talia." Clark looked excited like it was a game. 

"So tell me what you did," Clark said. "We should really know each other's experiences. Compare notes."

"Fine," he sighed. " _She_ used to tie me up."

"That was Selina."

"Hn," he replied.

Clark stared at him. "Wait. You're not going to tell me if I'm right?" 

He shook his head. 

"Did you like it?" He shrugged and Clark's eyes darkened. He let out a huff when Clark flipped them and pushed his hands against the bed. Clark looked down at him and rubbed his thigh between his legs. "I think you did." 

"You'll have to find out for yourself." 

Clark bit at his neck and Bruce arched into the touch. "I plan on it." They were lost in each other in the push and pull. Then Clark sucked in a breath. "What else have you done? That can't be all." Bruce thought back.

"I've been pegged?" he said. 

"Me too. And I know you liked that," Clark growled against his neck. "More." 

"I got a blow job while on a conference call with investors in China." Clark pulled back and blinked wide eyes at him. 

"Really?" 

" _That_ surprised you? I thought you said you were adventurous?"

"We were."

"Yeah?" he asked with a quirk of his eyebrow. 

"Yeah," Clark replied back with a hard stare. 

"We had sex in a movie theater. And it wasn't empty." Bruce chuckled at the face Clark made as he added the second part. 

"We had sex at the theatre. Balcony seats." Clark rolled his eyes.

"That was Talia. Lois told me about it." 

"Made a sex tape," Bruce said with a shrug. 

"Nope," Clark said and held up his finger. "I'll take the S."

"Are we playing horse?" Bruce asked. 

"S.E.X," Clark replied and Bruce saw the competitiveness spark in him. 

"Mile High Club," Clark said. 

Bruce held up a finger. 

"What? How? Private Planes." 

"Private planes came after the kids. And Selina hated flying." 

"I'm fixing that. There is just something so romantic about being squished together and accidentally flushing the toilet." 

Bruce laughed and hummed when Clark kissed along his jaw. 

"Vibrator," Bruce said. 

"On who?" Clark asked. 

"Both," he replied and bit his lip. 

Clark showed him a second finger. "E," Clark said then licked his way into his mouth. Bruce pulled at his shirt.

"Sex in someone else's house."

"We had sex here. Every time we stayed," Clark said. 

"I've had sex in every room of your old house."

"What?" Clark's lips were swollen as his mouth hung open in surprise. 

"Yep," he replied. "Even your master closet." 

Clark laughed against his collarbone. 

"Sex in the ocean," Clark said and snaked his hand under Bruce's waistband. 

He held up a finger. "Sharks." 

"Sex on a ferris wheel," Bruce said his mind slowly losing focus on their game as Clark's hand worked at him. 

"That was with me," Clark said. He could feel him grinning into the kiss. 

"I'll win with this one," Clark said lowly. 

"Sex with a guy while your wife watched."

"Sex with Diana," he replied without thinking. 

"You had sex with Diana?" Clark asked sitting up. Bruce felt the weight lift off of him. "Why didn't you tell me?" 

Bruce covered his face. He groaned. "It was a mistake." 

"When?" Bruce pulled his boxers back up as Clark's hand slid out of them.

"Last year."

"Last year," Clark repeated. "Is that why you two are so weird?" 

"We aren't weird," he replied. 

"Both of you were acting weird." 

He looked at Clark. "I snuck out."

"You snuck out after having sex with one of your best friends?" 

"Exactly. We were drunk and I couldn't have that conversation with her." 

Clark sighed down at him. "Sooner or later that conversation is going to have to happen."

But it was difficult to stay stern while Bruce bit at his ear and whispered, "Later."

-

The boys announced their arrival by yelling 'pizza'. When they walked out to the living room they were greeted by Jason and Tim teaming up to carry in a small stack of pizzas. Talia had a sleeping Damian on her hip and looked tired herself. He took Damian and Clark took the pizzas when the boxes started to slide. 

"I forget how much energy they have," Talia said. Bruce headed upstairs, Talia a few steps behind. "How was today?" she asked. There was a little worry in her eyes. 

He offered her a smile. "It was better." 

"You talked to Clark," Talia accused with a grin. 

"I did. I think we're officially dating." 

"Good. I want you to be happy," she said as he laid Damian down. 

"What about you? Are you happy?" 

She hesitated and looked down at Damian. "I think I'm getting there? I might have met someone?" 

"Really?" he asked. Neither of them moved to go back down to the kitchen. 

"Yeah. It's new. I think you'd like her, though." 

"Her?" Talia nodded with a shy smile. He tugged her in for a hug. "Tell me about her?" 

"Her name is Honor. She has a five year old. We talked a lot about our kids. She's not with the father anymore, but they're still really good friends. I talked to her a lot about our relationship and moving on. And we just didn't stop talking." 

They walked back down and Talia told him about her nerves and excitement. When they walked in Clark's eyes met his and he smiled. 

"I thought I said the cheese pizza was all mine?" Talia said when she saw all of the pizzas opened and random slices taken from them. Tim and Jason giggled into their plates and avoided looking at her. 

"Everything okay?" Clark asked when he sat down next to him. 

"Great," he replied and rubbed his thigh before stealing one of Jason's slices. 

-

Bruce was surprised by how little changed in their day to day life. The texts he got while he was at work varied from pictures of the boys doing things and selfies with each one of them to pictures he wished he hadn't opened in the middle of a board meeting. Clark talked with a few of the publishers he'd worked with in the past and he could see that the book was getting closer and closer to being an actual thing. But he also knew Clark was struggling with deciding on a topic. 

"Have you chosen your suit for tonight?" Alfred asked over breakfast. 

"What?" Bruce asked. His thigh was being massaged by a teasing foot. 

"For the Foundation Event tonight? You are speaking." 

"That's tonight?" he asked. There had been promises made before Clark would release from his bed that morning.

"It is the same night every year," Alfred replied with a knowing glint to his eyes. Clark's foot fell back to the floor. 

"Whichever one you choose will be fine." He looked over to Clark. "Would you like to come?" 

"What?" 

"Be my plus one," Bruce said with a smile. Clark looked a little speechless. "Only if you want to." 

"I'll go," Clark answered. "I might need to go buy a suit."

"I'll assist you with that Master Clark." 

-

**CK:** Are you sure that it's okay?

 **BW:** I want to show you off. Even if they won't know that's what I'm doing. 

**CK:** Okay

 **CK:** your son just asked me what was wrong with my face. 

**CK:** It was a smile. 

Bruce chuckled to himself and went back to the contract he'd been working on. 

\---

"Why are you wearing that?" Jason asked when Clark walked into the den around seven in the suit that Alfred had picked out for him. He had always been horrible at dressing himself. Lois had called it pitiful that he could never match a tie to a suit jacket--but when he really tried it all just felt entirely too matchy and then he felt silly. Jason's question didn't help his unease. 

Clark looked down at the scratchy looking wool suit jacket that was a mess of white and red knit. Alfred had fussed about his hair, but hadn't quite convinced Clark to wear contacts. He had on red pants and a red and white pocket square with matching bowtie and he felt like he just walked out of some ridiculously fancy party-- which he guessed was appropriate seeing as that was exactly where he was going. 

But the look that Bruce was giving him didn't look like he thought Clark looked ridiculous. His eyes were wide and his mouth slightly open as he looked him over giving Clark the perfect opportunity to do the same. His suit was black, but he had the same sort of grey knit that Clark had on his vest and a crimson tie that looked so good next to Clark, he was positive that Alfred had done it on purpose. He cleared his throat and turned his head to Jason who was still waiting for an answer. "If I didn't wear this, I would look pretty silly next to your dad, don't you think?" 

Jason wrinkled his nose but Tim just smiled, laying his chin on his hands on the back of the couch as he looked between the two of them. Something a little hopeful was shining in his eyes. "I think you look nice," Tim offered and Clark winked at him making Tim smile harder. 

Bruce took one more second to take him in before he turned to Alfred. "Damian should be down until morning. Clark filled the kids with pizza, but-" 

"I think I know how to watch the children, Master Bruce." Alfred smirked at him and took him by the shoulders, pushing him towards the door. "Your car has arrived, now go. And do _try_ to enjoy yourself this year." He sighed and smiled at Clark behind his back. 

As soon as the front door was shut behind them, Bruce pulled Clark closer and looked him over, his eyes amused but he frowned. "Hn."

"What?" Clark grinned. "You said you wanted to show me off." 

Bruce bit his lip. "I didn't expect you to look this good." 

"You should have told me that the dress code was nice but not _that_ nice before you let Alfred dress me," he told him, shaking his head as he pulled Bruce down the stairs to where the driver had gotten out of the car to open the door for them. 

The drive to the gala was about half an hour from the manor and there was a remote wall that could separate them from the driver. As they pulled to a stop, Bruce had to refold Clark's pocket square for him after he had to pull it out to wipe the fog off of his glasses. 

They didn't touch when they stepped out onto the roped off carpet, but they stood close enough that they could if their hands swayed the right way. Bruce didn't stop to talk to any of the reporters and rolled his eyes when someone yelled 'why?' at them when they walked in the doors. 

"I brought a reporter with me," he grumbled to Clark. "Why would I want to talk to them?"

It was more fun than he thought being out with Bruce. They couldn't be public. Not right now with the kids and Dick and their friends not knowing. But even if he couldn't kiss his cheek or hold his hand, it still _felt_ like a date. The first date Clark had been on in a very long time. They managed to get drinks before a board member found Bruce and pulled them into a conversation. Luckily for Bruce, most of the group had read Clark's most recent article from China. They delighted in asking him about one of the guides he had written about and the families he'd stayed with. Bruce smirked when each group asked the same questions, whispering stupid things in his ear to try and trip him up at times. But it was Clark's turn to pinch him when it was time for his speech.

Clark stood with one of the wives from their group and listened as she doted on his secret boyfriend who smiled at him toward the end despite himself. Clark grinned. He agreed with every word she said and then some. And when Bruce finished his speech, Clark let out a loud whoop that had people staring at him as he obnoxiously clapped for him. Bruce shook his head and grinned at the ground. He pulled Clark out of the group as he came back through telling the others he'd seen a friend of his mother's he had to greet. 

He pulled Clark down the hall and turned toward a quiet area that was roped off and stepped over them. Clark grinned and let Bruce pull him in by his lapels and push his glasses up as he pressed Bruce into the corner. 

"I can't take you anywhere," Bruce breathed when Clark bit at his ear. 

"That's fine," Clark muttered into his jaw. "We could spend every date night switching rooms. Make it exciting."

"Shut up," Bruce groaned but it turned into a chuckle before he could mask it and pushed back on Clark's chest. He looked him over. Love shining out of his eyes as he traced his lips with his thumb. "You wanna get out of here?" He asked with a quirk of his eyebrow. 

"I would love to," Clark told him with a kiss and made a face as he said, "But-" Bruce groaned and he laughed. "I promised Mrs. Tayler a dance." He winked and straightened Bruce's tie before he pulled him back out toward the party, dropping his hand before they got too close. 

As soon as they were back in the Towncar, Bruce closed the partition. Clark watched his finger press down on the button with a smile. Once they were closed off from the outside world and prying eyes Bruce slid into Clark's lap. He had to duck his head, but that brought Clark's mouth close enough to capture and he did. He rocked idly in his lap as they kissed. Clark's hands slid down his back and over his ass then back up to pull his shoulders down to kiss him deeper. He groaned into the kiss. Clark sucked on his lip when he pulled away. 

"Sex in a car?" Bruce asked. 

"Does that time in the back of my dad's pick up count?" 

Bruce considered the night under the stars and the feel of Clark in his hand for the first time. 

"Hn." 

"I've never gone all the way in a car," Clark mumbled and kissed his jaw. 

" _All the way_? Really." 

"Yes. Really. Would you prefer, 'No Bruce, I've never _made love_ in a car before.'?" Bruce laughed and pulled at Clark's pants. He was pleased to see that he was already stiffening and straining against his underwear. He took Clark in hand and kissed him soundly. Clark's hands continued their way up and down his body until Bruce twisted his wrist just so and they gripped his hips. Bruce let out a surprised grunt when his back hit the seat. Clark loomed over him. They were too big for the car, it could never work. Part of Bruce was sad for that, but when Clark pushed his legs apart and slid between them to kiss him, he wondered if they could still try. 

When they stopped Bruce's shirt was half unbuttoned. His hair was surely a mess with how long Clark's fingers had been in it. Clark's bowtie was on his neck, but his shirt was completely open. They slid out of the car and thanked the driver who nodded like he hadn't seen a thing before getting back into his car. 

They practically ran up to Clark's room which was closer. Bruce was pushed face first onto the bed as Clark pulled his pants down and licked a stripe up across his ass. He moaned into the pillow and pushed back against the touch. Bruce watched Clark's shirt float to the floor and heard the thunk of his pants hitting it too. Bruce's clothes followed not long after and Clark was back, pulling his cheeks apart to kiss at him. He panted, his knees sliding further apart as Clark worked him open with his tongue, then his fingers. And spectacularly both. 

Clark crawled over him and kissed his jaw, then when he turned, caught his lips. He felt him sliding through the slick of the lube and broke the kiss. 

"You ready?" Clark asked. He nodded. 

Clark didn't make him wait. With a push he was sliding in, stretching him out. He groaned and pushed back, but Clark pulled back, nearly all the way out. As he started to turn Clark slammed back in. Bruce let out a broken noise and reached for Clark's hand. Their fingers threaded together, grounding him as Clark continued the fast and hard rhythm. Clark pulled on his hips, lifting him from where he'd been pressed further into the bed. He focused on keeping his knees under him as Clark shifted for a better angle which he found. Bruce sobbed against the sheet, squeezing Clark's fingers as Clark hit his prostate over and over. 

"Touch me," he panted. "Please."

"I've got you babe," Clark said into the skin of his neck and wrapped his fingers around him. Bruce let out a broken cry. He could feel Clark reaching his end. His noises growing louder as his hips slammed in impossibly harder still. When he felt the heat bloom inside him, he came. He went limp beneath Clark and they sunk down to the bed. He closed his eyes and let the warmth of Clark against his back and the feel of him softening inside of him fill him up as he fell asleep.

-

Bruce woke up with a moan on his lips. Clark's lips were on his neck and his fingers were sliding in and out. He whimpered at the sore feeling, but the brush of those fingertips had him biting back a moan. 

"Can I?" Clark asked with a kiss to the back of his neck. He felt Clark hard and ready against his thigh. He nodded already lost to the pleasure that had been building while he slept. Clark slid over him and Bruce relished the ache as he slid back in slowly, carefully, sweetly. He was trapped between Clark's weight and the mattress. He grunted and tried to shift. Clark pulled out and before Bruce could complain he was on his back and Clark was kissing him as he slid back in where he belonged. They moved together slowly, kissing and basking in the feel of the morning sunlight and their sleep soft touches. He was surprised by the orgasm that rolled over him. It caught Clark by surprise and he jerked a couple times before filling him a second time. Clark pulled back and Bruce felt him staring. 

"What?" he asked, sleep trying to lure him back to it. 

Clark just brushed fingers over his leaking hole before pushing them back in. Bruce groaned and Clark caught his lips. He didn't push or move his fingers at all, just held them there as he kissed him. When he finally pulled them out Bruce felt the need for a bath. Clark chuckled when his legs wavered beneath him as he stood. He offered to carry him, but Bruce shot him a look and carefully walked into the bathroom. 

-

Clark was smiling over to him as he brushed his teeth. 

"I hate you," he told him and was careful to put his toothbrush away as he ached with every move. 

"No you don't," Clark said and slapped him on the ass. 

He bit back the groan and instead told him, "You're an asshole."

Clark wrapped his arms around him before he could make it out of the bathroom. "You can fuck me next time," he purred against his neck. Bruce didn't say anything and Clark's hands slid down to his hips. "I thought you'd like that idea," Clark said and kissed his shoulder before pushing Bruce forward and shutting the bathroom door. 

"Asshole," he called and he heard Clark's laughter before the shower turned on. Bruce didn't mind the idea of wearing Clark's clothes all day. He rubbed the worn soft shirt he'd stolen and headed up to his room. 

When he walked in, Tim was curled in a tight ball in the middle of his bed. He could see barely dried tear tracks on his cheeks and his heart broke. He sat down on the bed and the small movement jolted Tim awake. He looked around in a panic, then saw his dad sitting on the edge and silent tears started falling again. Bruce pulled him in and held him as he cried. After a few minutes he heard Tim mumbling, 'I couldn't find you' over and over again. Tim had barely fallen asleep again when Clark walked in. Bruce looked up at him with all the pain he'd been feeling since he had walked in and realized he'd failed his son again. 

\---

Clark made his way downstairs alone while Bruce carried Tim back to his room. He wasn't surprised to find that Alfred was already in the kitchen, coffee was pushed into his hand as soon as he sat down. He thanked him, pressing the palm of his hand into his eyes. He had left his glasses on his bedside table and everything was just blurry enough that it was disorienting, but he didn't want to go back past Tim and Jason's room. He had never felt so guilty in his entire life. Last night had been so perfect, something he'd let himself dream about every once in a while when he was at his lowest place and it was finally here. They were living in that dream. But at what cost? 

And it was so easy to let that wash over him. The guilt of Lois and his children. The guilt of being happy when they weren't there. The guilt of Tim crying in Bruce's arms because, while they were off having that perfect night, he'd had a nightmare. 

"I trust your evening went well?" Alfred asked before he got a good look at Clark's face and frowned. "I'll put on a kettle," he sighed. 

Bruce made it downstairs a little while later. He was in one of Clark's shirts that he had gotten when he was in India, the bright sun pattern had been hand stained and was fading from wear. He looked tired and for a moment Clark was worried that he would be upset with him, but he just pulled out the chair next to him and held onto Clark's knee as he sat down. Alfred placed a pot of tea in front of him and Bruce thanked him quietly, dressing his cup and physically relaxing as he took a sip. 

"How is he?" Clark asked after a moment reaching out to push his hair out of his face. 

"He's tired," Bruce sighed and closed his eyes. "I think he was in my room all night waiting for me to come back. Who knows how long it actually took him to fall asleep." He looked at Clark, his eyes so sad. "I don't know what to tell him."

"We could tell them the truth," Clark offered. Bruce kept watching him, eyes begging Clark to convince him. He put his hand on top of Bruce's where it was still tight on his knee. "I know it feels really fast. And honestly I'm terrified, but I don't want them to feel like we lied to them. And if Tim needs to find you, I don't want him to be surprised when I am there too."

Bruce closed his eyes and leaned forward, resting his head on Clark's shoulder and let him rub at his back. "I've never had to do this."

Clark chuckled lightly. "It's a new one for both of us."

"The kids were still so young when Talia came into the picture. It was so easy."

"It may not be as hard as you think," Alfred offered and they both looked up at him. He was smiling. "The children love Clark. They want their father to be happy. Sometimes it is just that simple."

Clark kissed Bruce's temple and repeated the last few words to him but it did nothing to relieve the tension in his shoulders. 

-

They took the day to come up with a plan, deciding that just sitting down with them together would be the best thing to do. They slept in their own rooms that night, Tim curled into Bruce's shoulder when Clark told him that he would see him in the morning. 

He changed his shirt three times the next day, going through all of the boys favorite colors before he settled on red. He felt tense and he knew that if they were going to make this work well that he had to relax. He had to be the one that was okay because he was the one asking to be accepted here. He was asking for a place in a family that was not his. The guilt snuck up on him again and Clark sat down on the edge of the bed. 

"This is good," he told himself as he tried to breathe past the lump in his throat. "It's healthy to move forward. You aren't replacing them, you are growing with them and around them," he said those words over and over until he felt calm enough to stand back up. He knew that he should call Harley and set another appointment, but he just took a deep breath and went down to breakfast. 

Everyone was already at the table. Tim looked much better this morning, arguing with Jason about something they saw on TV. Bruce smiled at him from the counter where he was grabbing coffee looking more relaxed than Clark felt. Damian shouted from his highchair until Clark went over to greet him and gripped at Clark's fingers when he sat down. 

Everything sounded underwater as anxiety hit him. All the noise was slow and muted. And when Bruce sat next to him, placing a mug in front of him, it came crashing back into full spread. He put his arm over the back of Clark's chair and cleared his throat. Clark rushed to take a sip of caffeine before they started. Jason and Tim got quiet and Damian made noises at them until Clark pulled him out of his chair and into his lap. 

"Boys…" Bruce started and Clark squeezed his knee under the table, Damian chewing lazily on a piece of pancake he'd brought with him. "I have something… Clark and I have something we want to talk to you about." 

They just blinked in confusion at them and waited. Bruce scooted his chair a little closer into Clark and he swore that he saw it click in Tim's eyes. "You know that Clark and I have been friends for a very long time." They nodded and looked at eachother and when Tim looked back his way he looked like he was holding back a smile. "And sometimes when you know someone and you love someone for that long, that love sort of… shifts."

"Are you and uncle Clark not friends anymore?" Jason asked confused. 

"We'll always be friends," Clark assured him and looked at Bruce who was starting to look a little less tense. "But now we are also more than that."

Jason just looked at them confused. Bruce took back over. "Clark and I are… dating," he told them and looked back at him again, his eyes warm in an almost relief like it felt good to say out loud. It felt good to hear too. "We love each other very much. And we want you to know that this isn't going to-"

"No," Jason said. He was standing up when they looked back at them. Tim frowned at his brother. "We already have a mom and a dad, we _don't need_ another one-"

"I'm not trying to be your dad, kiddo," Clark said softly. "You never have to call me anything but Clark. This doesn't have to change anything."

"We _have_ a mom," Jason said again like this was important for them to hear. "This is stupid!" he yelled at his father before running out of the room and after a second Tim followed. 

Bruce squeezed his shoulder in apology before he got up and called after them. He left the room, leaving Damian in Clark's lap, watching him in bored interest. "That could have gone better, huh?" He asked Damian. He chewed thoughtfully. "You still like me, right?" The boy blinked and Clark took that as a yes.

He cleaned the syrup off of Damian and they went to the den. He watched him run around for a while before they put on a Disney movie and he climbed onto the couch to watch it. He had just fallen asleep on Clark's shoulder when Tim peeked around the couch and climbed silently up next to him. Clark was surprised when he leaned against him, grabbing at the side of his shirt like he did when he was anxious. 

"Do I have to call you dad now?" Tim asked softly. 

Clark looked down at him, his eyes were still facing the TV but he wasn't really watching the movie. "No. I can still be uncle Clark."

"But... I can if I want to?" 

Clark swallowed hard on the lump in his throat and waited until his eyes stopped prickling. "If you want to," he told him. Tim leaned closer to his side. 

-

"No!" Jason yelled through the door. Bruce took a deep breath. It had been an entire month of Jason throwing fits any time Clark did pretty much anything. Today's was driving the boys to school. Bruce had a call in- he looked down at his watch - five minutes and Alfred was at a doctor's appointment. He had explained this all to Jason through the locked bedroom door, but it didn't matter. 

Tim stood at the end of the hall with his backpack on looking torn. The first few days he'd joined his brother in their push back against the change, but with each day he could see that Tim was only doing it because of Jason. The first time that Tim slipped up and called Clark dad, Bruce was sure that Jason was going to go nuclear.Bruce sighed. He hadn't wanted to do this, but he had a time limit. 

"Grab Jay's backpack for me?" he asked Tim who nodded. Jason started yelling when Bruce unlocked the door. He yelled even louder when he picked him up and carried him down the stairs, Jason still kicking and trying to dislodge himself. Tim followed behind him with both of their backpacks. Clark was waiting in the car like he'd said he would. He had a grim expression on his face when he saw Bruce trudging across the lawn with Jason. 

As soon as he put Jason in the car, Jason went silent. Because he wasn't actually speaking around Clark at all. Instead he frowned and turned to look out the window. Bruce checked Tim's seatbelt. Then gave Clark an apologetic smile that got waved off. 

-

"I got a call from Jason today. He said that you made him go to school. Such a terrible father," Talia said with a laugh. 

"I'm sorry," Bruce sighed. 

"Don't be. We talked about this." He was glad that he'd talked to Talia before they told the boys. Because Jason had called her immediately after crying about how they were trying to replace her. He still called any time he was upset. "It's going to take time. Clark managed to lure Damian to his side. Jason will come. How is Tim doing?" 

"Hey buddy, do you want to talk to your mom?" 

Tim's head popped up over the edge of his desk and he reached for the phone. Bruce handed it over and leaned back. He listened to Tim tell Talia about what he'd learned that day and about how mean Jason was being and went back to his computer. 

"Mommy had to go. She said to tell you bye," Tim said as he handed the phone back. Tim sat back down and Bruce leaned forward. Tim had started spending the afternoon with him. He was pretty sure that it was because of Jason. 

"What are you working on?" 

"I'm doing a book report on one of Uncle Clark's articles. He said he'd let me interview him."

Bruce heard laughter and looked up as Damian came running into the office with Clark chasing after him. 

"Ahhh! Daddy!" Damian yelled as he ran into his legs. Bruce blinked. 

"Did he just-" Bruce lifted Damian into his lap and looked up. Clark was staring at Damian like he was the most amazing thing he'd ever seen. "Is he chasing you?" Bruce asked. Damian shouted and shot Clark a frown. He hugged Damian tightly and felt a burn in his eyes. 

"I was _trying_ to give him a hug. Looks like I'll have to find someone else to hug. Maybe this one?" Clark asked and snatched a laughing Tim up. 

"Daddy!" Damian yelled again and he couldn't stop the noise that cracked it's way out of his throat. Damian wiggled his way free. 

"Uh!" Damian demanded up at Clark. He held his hands out and Clark picked him up. Damian squeezed him tightly in a hug, and looked down at Tim as if to say 'this is how it's done'. 

He watched Damian who had just _talked_ hug Clark while Tim laughed and knew only one thing was missing. He looked over to the door and saw Jason peeking his way around the corner. Bruce watched him frown at his brothers as they teamed up to tickle and hug Clark into submission. Jason turned and saw that he was being watched, but before Bruce could say anything he huffed and ran off. 

"Daddy," Damian called again. Bruce couldn't believe that three times he'd been summoned. He got up and let Damian drag him down the hall to the den. Damian flopped onto the floor and went back to coloring. Bruce sat down and Clark settled next to him. Tim climbed up and leaned onto Bruce's other side. He could see him go back to the article. 

"He finally spoke," he whispered. Clark leaned over and kissed his temple. He leaned back as the moment pushed at his chest again. He held a hand over his eyes and breathed. He'd spoken. 

-

Clark was frowning when he joined him a few nights later. Jason had stopped throwing fits, he'd realized they didn't work, but the silent treatment persisted. Now though the only person that Jason would talk to was Alfred. He even ignored Damian who enjoyed that about as much as Bruce expected. He watched Clark get changed for bed then crawl under the covers. He pulled the book out of Bruce's hands and tucked his head against his chest. 

"You okay?" he asked. He ran his fingers through Clark's hair as Clark traced letters on Bruce's shirt. 

"I found the typewriter I gave him in the trash," Clark mumbled. He could hear the hurt in his voice. "I put it in my room," Clark said quietly. "Maybe he'll want it again later." 

Bruce hummed and kissed his head. He knew Clark was talking about more than just the typewriter. "He will. Even if he's upset now he loves you. He'll adjust."

Clark turned and looked up at him.

-

He was laying out on the patio with his head in Clark's lap. It was a beautiful day. The sun was shining, which was rare in Gotham, even rarer still in the middle of fall. The heat lamps were on and he was soaking in the light from the sun and the warmth from the lamps. Clark's fingers traced through his hair as he read. Damian was napping upstairs and Tim was reading on the other side of the patio under a heat lamp of his own. He heard a creak and turned. Jason was standing in the doorway with his shoulders around his ears like he'd been caught. 

"Come join us Jay," Bruce offered quietly. Clark's fingers had stilled in his hair. Jason looked over and an angry pout settled on his face before he stomped over and sat next to Tim. He met Clark's eyes. That was progress. He closed his eyes and nudged Clark's hand to get him to go back to the soothing touch. 

\---

It went on like that for a while. If the entire family was together Jason would eventually slump into the room and let Bruce or Tim pull a conversation out of him. It was still complete radio silence with Clark, but Jason got in the car and let Clark take him to school without putting up a fight and he was assured by Bruce and Talia that this was progress. 

It was the beginning of November when things started to shift again. Tim was chattier than he normally was when Clark picked them up from school, for once not bothered by the silence that Jason had dragged in with him. There was apparently a new kid in their class that Tim had made friends with. 

"He likes Wendy too!" He said excitedly as he ran back into the house after Jason. They headed up to the study where Bruce was finishing up a report with Damian in his lap coloring. "He's even read all the books!"

"Who are we talking about?" Bruce asked smiling when Jason ran up to hug him hello, melting much more easily toward his father. 

"My new friend Jacob!" Tim smiled brightly at him. "We have _everything_ in common. He likes Wendy and photography and," he turned excitedly to look at Clark, "-he has two dads too!"

He smiled, a warmth he hadn't felt in such a long time blooming in his chest before it was immediately frozen into a sharp edge at his throat. 

Clark couldn't remember the last time he'd thought about it, but it hit him all at once that he didn't remember the last time he'd been called Dad. He had never stopped to appreciate how good it had felt to be called Daddy by his son. To fight with Lois over first words and feel the exhilaration the first time that he heard it. He'd never thought to cherish them.

And he hadn't expected that. He watched Tim turn back to Bruce in excitement, telling him all about the other boy in his class with two dads and did what he could to hold in the sob that threatened to punch out of him. He swallowed and clutched at his chest as his eyes welled up and choked when he heard Tim say, "C-Clark?" 

He tried for a laugh and wiped his face on his sleeve. "Sorry kiddo. I think my contact came loose. I'll be right back," he told them, avoiding Bruce's eye as he walked carefully out of the room, just barely making it down the hall to Bruce's room before the sob punched out of him. He rolled off the door, sinking down against the wall as he folded in on himself. He wondered how small he would have to get before he could stop feeling this horrible. How small before breathing didn’t matter and his lungs didn't feel like they were trying to burst through his ribs. 

He didn't know how long he sat there letting the memory of his sons crash over him like a wave until the door opened and Bruce stepped in, closing it quickly behind him. Clark couldn't hear him, but he knew he was talking. A deep vibration against the top of his head reminding him that Bruce was there, holding him close against his chest. "I'm sorry," he gasped trying to hold himself together as Bruce rubbed his back. "I'm sorry," he gasped again and again unable to turn it off. 

"I'm here," Bruce told him, kissing the top of his head and holding him closer. "It's okay, I'm here."

-

It took awhile for Bruce to get him off of the floor and into the bed where he stayed wrapped around him muttering in his ear until around six when he had to go down and be with the kids. Clark assured him that he was fine and watched him out the door before he pushed himself out of bed. 

He walked into the bathroom and looked at himself in the mirror. His face was stained red by his tears. Clark turned on the faucet and let it run, splashing water on his face until it felt less swollen and grabbed his glasses off of the counter. He dried his face and slipped them on, walking back into the bedroom and slipping into the bed. He turned the television on but turned it off quickly after, his mind too full to focus on a show. He sat in the quiet for a minute until he pushed himself out of the bed again and left the room, walking back down the hall to the guest room he'd been staying in before. They had converted it into a more functional office for him after talking to the kids and his computer sat open on the desk. 

It opened on a blank document when he turned it on and took a heavy seat at the desk. He had been trying to start something for a week. He'd deleted what he had written previously. It had felt preachy and horrible like he had been reporting on his family instead of being a part of it. He closed his eyes and pinched at the bridge of his nose. His eyes were sore and his heart felt heavy any time he thought about Lois or the boys. He didn't want to start that way. Instead he thought of something better. The one bright thing with him in the bottom of the pit

_You never think that you are going to meet the love of your life when you are ten years old._

_Love isn't marketed to boys that way. Little girls grow up with stories of Princesses and their Prince Charmings. Brave warriors coming to save them from the tallest towers. From dragons. From witches. From curses. Men scouring the country far and wide for the chance to die for them for they are the fairest in the land. Little girls grow up believing in the principle of love. Being taught that they are precious and they have only the very best to settle for. And even if they have the most loving of parents--it's not the same for boys._

_I grew up in a small town in Kansas, on the farm that my family had run for over a hundred years. My father taught me about hard work. He taught me to be respectful. He taught me to treat the people in my life the way I wanted them to treat me. He taught me to help people. In every situation._

_Which is exactly how Bruce Wayne fell into my life._

Clark didn't know what direction he was going in. But for the first time since he had started thinking about this book he felt like he was going _somewhere._ And that felt good. 

His office was closer to the boys' room than Bruce's bedroom. So he wasn't surprised when he saw them walking past to brush their teeth and get ready for bed. Tim stopped in the doorway with big eyes that still looked a little scared and Clark offered him a smile.

Tim frowned and tugged at the hem of his shirt. "Are you mad at me?" He asked quietly. 

"No, of course not," Clark assured him softly and waved him in. Tim rushed forward and let Clark pull him into his lap. "I'm sorry I scared you."

"Daddy said you were sad."

Clark nodded and sighed. "I am kiddo. I'm very sad. But that's not your fault."

"Why are you sad?" Tim asked curiously and Clark saw Jason peek around the door frame. 

Clark smiled at him too. Jason frowned but was too curious to leave the doorway. "Sometimes…" he didn't know how to frame it but he tried anyway. "You guys really remind me of my kids. Your cousin Conner especially. And I miss him very, very-" He swallowed hard. "-very much."

"Boys! C'mon if you want a story!" Bruce called from a few rooms over. Tim hugged him and rushed off to get a story from his dad but Jason surprised him by staying in the doorway. 

"What are you writing?" He asked unable to let go of the questions he'd been holding in for months now that he had stopped in the room. 

Clark tried not to seem too eager to talk to him. He didn't want to make it seem like a big deal in case it scared him away. "I'm writing about your dad actually. About how we met. I was about your age." Jason blinked in surprise. "Did your dad ever tell you about that?" Jason shook his head slowly and Clark could see questions burning in his eyes. But he was stubborn and he still wasn't ready to give up being mad. "Why don't you go lay down. If you want to know, we can talk about it tomorrow," he promised. 

That seemed to appease him slightly. He nodded and headed back down the hall leaving Clark to look at the nearly forty pages he had managed to force out. It wasn't much. But it was a start. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey ya'll sorry for the late chapter post. For those of you that do not follow me on Twitter, a snake got into my mother in laws house last night and mysteriously disappeared-- so it's been a rough night. But at least I'm posting on Tuesday! 
> 
> Hope you guys are safe and enjoy this chapter! 😚😚😚
> 
> XOXO,  
> Prubbs


	8. Chapter 8

"It's Dick's birthday next week," Bruce mentioned as Clark climbed in bed. 

"What? Really? I had no idea!" Clark's words were loaded with sarcasm as he adjusted the pillow and looked at him. "I thought it was in March." 

"Ha. Ha," he replied and Clark grinned. "I was thinking that we could tell him about us."

"Really?" Clark asked, his grin dimming. "Are you sure?" 

"I know last time didn't go very well, but he's not a kid anymore. And I want him to know before we tell anyone else." Clark shifted closer.

"You want to tell people."

"Our friends at least. You  _ are _ writing a book about us, we're going to have to tell them eventually." Clark looked at him like he hadn't thought about that so Bruce kissed him. "We don't have to do anything yet, but I'd like to at least tell Dick." 

"Okay," Clark replied. 

-

"Daddy?" 

He opened his eyes. Tim was standing next to the bed, his eyes huge and full of tears. He shifted, then realized Clark had his arm tight around him and was breathing heavily against his neck. 

"Come here," he said and lifted the blanket. Tim immediately climbed into the bed and plopped into the space between him and Clark, which wasn't big enough for him. Clark jolted awake, then relaxed and moved so Tim could slip down between them. Bruce felt the bed dip and turned back. Jason didn't say a word as he laid down and curled against his chest. He put his arm around him and looked back at Clark. 'Sorry' he mouthed. Clark shook his head and pet Tim's hair. 

The next morning Tim was drooling onto his shoulder and Jason was gone. So was Clark. He looked around. Tim opened his eyes a tiny crack then closed them and snuggled deeper into his shoulder. Bruce chuckled as he sat up. Tim whined but did the same. He rubbed his eyes and when he looked over Tim was rubbing his with a yawn. He smiled and rubbed his hair as he got out of the bed. He sent Tim to get ready for school and headed down to the kitchen. 

"But how can I  _ fix it _ if he doesn't talk about it?" Jason asked. 

"You can't," Clark replied. "I know you want to because you love your brother. And I know it doesn't make sense right now, but you can't fix everything. You remember when I was sad?" There was a pause. "Your dad didn't try to fix anything. He just hugged me. Sometimes that's all you can do." 

"That's stupid," Jason grumped. 

"Yeah," Clark agreed, sounding amused. "Why don't you go wake them up?" 

Bruce stepped around the corner so he wasn't obviously eavesdropping when Jason came barreling out of the kitchen. "Oh! Dad's up!" Jason yelled back at the kitchen then dodged him to run up the stairs. 

"Dad's not as sneaky as he thinks he is," Clark said as he walked in. He shrugged. 

"Thanks," he said and kissed him. Clark smiled and didn't let him step away until they could hear the boys. 

Jason had his arm over Tim's shoulder when they tumbled back into the kitchen. Tim whined, but Bruce could see the smile on his face. Jason sat down next to Clark and without being prompted asked if he was driving them to school. 

"I can," Clark agreed. Jason nodded and shoved half a pancake in his mouth. "Slow down, bud." Jason's eyes sparked and he grinned as he tried putting an entire pancake in his mouth. 

"Jay," Bruce admonished with a laugh. 

-

He stepped out of his office when he smelled smoke. The boys were at school and Clark was in his room writing. Or complaining every five minutes to Bruce about writing in texts and an over use of emojis that Tim and Jason had taught him different combinations of the day before. His stomach tightened and he started down the hall. 

As he passed the stairs Clark called out to him, "Is that smoke?" 

"I don't know," he replied. He knew that it was, but he didn't know the cause. He didn't want to be right. But when he stepped into the kitchen and saw Alfred standing in front of the sink looking out the window while a pot burned on the stove next to him he knew it was a bad day.

"Alfred?" he called while he turned the burner off. He heard Clark walk in as Alfred turned, his eyes looking confused as he looked at Bruce. 

"Thomas?" 

Bruce gave him a soft smile and stepped closer. 

"No, you died. You can't-" 

"Why don't we go sit down and we can talk," he said. He hated seeing him so confused, but Alfred let him take his arm. He stared at him in amazement as Bruce walked him out the door. Bruce glanced up at Clark. He focused his eyes back on Alfred as he asked him a question.

They sat and talked for a while before Alfred drifted off. He picked up a blanket and wrapped it around him before standing. Clark was in the doorway watching them. 

"Why didn't you tell me?" Clark said as soon as he leaned against the opposite side of the door. 

"He doesn't want anyone knowing." Clark frowned. He sighed. "And if I don't talk about it, then I can pretend that it's not happening." Clark reached out and he frowned as he tugged him in. "I don't want to lose him too." 

"Alzheimers?" 

"They don't think so, but he has dementia. He's hallucinating. There are a few other things that come and go, so Leslie is pretty sure what he has, but there is no way to know for sure." 

"I'm sorry," Clark said. 

"I know," he sighed. 

-

"Thanks Luke," Bruce said as he grabbed his keys. 

"Oh no problem. I love hanging out with my dudes." Jason smiled huge. "Maybe Damian won't glare at me the entire time." 

"He should pass out here in ten minutes," Clark said. "Didn't let him nap earlier so he'd sleep tonight." 

"I thank you," Luke said. Damian was grumping at him from his high chair. 

"Call us if you have any problems. And call Leslie if it's an emergency. She's fifteen minutes away." 

"I know. Same as last time. Go. Make fun of Dick for me. Make sure he knows how old he is." 

Bruce laughed and let Clark drag him out of the kitchen. 

"They'll be fine," Clark said. 

"I know." 

"Luke has watched them since they were toddlers." 

"I know." 

"You can't miss your brother's birthday."

"I know."

"So stop looking so damn sad," Clark said and poked his cheek. Bruce smiled a fake smile at him and leaned back against the headrest. "You're nervous, aren't you?" 

"No," he replied. Clark glanced over to him. 

"You worry about the little things when you get nervous about big things." 

"It'll be fine. He's grown. We're grown. It's going to be fine. There is nothing to worry about." 

"Okay," Clark replied. 

"There isn't," Bruce repeated. 

"I know that," Clark replied. "He's your brother and he loves you." 

"Exactly," Bruce said. He frowned at the way his heart throbbed at that. Like it was an unexpected sentiment. But Bruce knew it was true. It had always been true. And that was some of what bothered him. While Dick hadn't exactly taken learning about their relationship badly, he had looked at Bruce like he didn't know him. He didn't want to see that look again. 

"It'll be fine," Clark said and took his hand. Bruce looked over to him, surprised by the contact. But Clark didn't look away from the road. He hadn't seen Clark take a hand off the wheel since he'd been back. He didn't know what this meant, but it felt big. Clark's hand squeezed his a few miles later before going back to the wheel. 

-

Bludhaven was a madhouse. It always had been, and while Bruce knew that his brother loved it, he couldn't stand it. They parked and Bruce nearly got taken out by a bike messenger before he'd even stepped out of the car. Clark pulled him out of the road and onto the sidewalk. They walked down the street to the social house that Dick's party was at. They had games. 'Frogger, B! Like the original.' They had bowling. 'I have been working on my strike.' They had a bar and most important - 

"S'mores nachos!" Dick announced as he showed them around the spread. Bruce had rented the place out before Dick had even finished his spiel the month before. Dick had never been big on spending his money on himself. It had always gone to his friends and the people he cared about. So Bruce made sure that he took care of Dick. 

They walked around talking to a few people that they knew. After the third time they saw Dick walking by himself as he bounced group to group, Clark pulled him aside. Bruce tried to keep his nerves down, and knew that Clark could see right through him. 

"Dick," Bruce started. Dick blinked at him. He was silent, he didn't know what to say. 

"Bruce and I got back together," Clark said and took Bruce's hand. "Bruce wanted to tell you first." Clark looked at Bruce. He looked back at him. "Well sort of. The boys know." 

"And Talia," Bruce added. "Because we were telling the boys." 

Dick looked between them. Then smiled and hugged Bruce. After a second he hugged Clark. "Congratulations!" Dick smiled. "I-" 

"Where is the birthday boy?" Someone yelled from across the room. Dick looked over his shoulder then back at them. 

"Go. We can talk later. We just wanted to tell you," Bruce said. Dick pat his shoulder and then swanned across the room. He laughed and shook his head. 

Barbara stole him away from Clark to complain about Stephanie suddenly not sleeping through the night. They talked for a while. She laughed at what one of her friends said and Bruce looked up. Across the room, Dick looked more serious than he'd ever seen him. He frowned when he realized that he was talking to Clark. 

"It's not that I'm not happy for you," Dick told him after Barbara had taken Bruce away. Clark suspected that they had planned it so that Dick could get a minute alone with him, but was happy to let him think it was a coincidence. "But you should have seen him when you got together with Lois. It was like his entire life was crashing down around him. And you know Bruce, that's not something he normally let's people see. You would have thought that you…" he stopped himself before he could say it and looked guiltily at Clark. "I didn't mean it like that."

"I know," he told Dick waving it off. "But you know, I didn't start dating Lois to spite him, right? I loved Bruce. I was just trying to get over him." 

Dick pulled his brows in. "Then why did you break up?"

"Bruce thought I would want to see other people. Got it from Diana and some stupid magazine article." Clark shrugged and took a drink of his beer wondering if it would ever hit him what a different life they could have had. "But we both agree that we are grateful for the life we've had. Our wives and kids. And as horrible as it sounds, maybe it was all leading here all along." 

"But don't you feel cheated?" Dick asked. He'd had a few drinks and it was easier for him to ask questions he usually steered clear from. "You guys could have had years. But I mean, I saw you with Lois and I saw Bruce with Selina. You were like, soulmate level in love."

"Well I don't know about that." Clark chuckled and smiled fondly as the hurt of missing her squeezed lightly at his chest. "And I'm not sure if I believe in soulmates. Or at least not the romantic idea of them."

"What do you mean?"

"Think about Barbara being ripped out of your life." Dick grimaced and Clark held up a hand to ask him to bear with it. "What would you miss the most about her?"

Dick blinked and thought it over. "Talking to her every day," he said simply. 

Clark nodded. "Even when I was with Lois, I missed talking to Bruce everyday. Not about romantic things, just little things. Random nothings that I walked by. We told each other everything, and when that was gone… when Lois died and Selina-- well, Bruce and I still had each other. Lois told me once that she thought a soulmate was the person that you could not live without. It's a horrible thing to live without your spouse, but Bruce got me through it and I got Bruce through it too. But not because we are in love or meant to be together. Because he's my very best friend and the one person I know that I can trust with every horrible thought and everything completely mundane without judgment. And if I did believe in soulmates, it would have to be Bruce. Not because we found our way back together after all of these years- but even after everything we went through-- we stayed together. I cannot imagine my life with him ripped out of it. Because I'm not sure I'd still be here without him."

Clark was surprised when Dick hugged him, jumping a little before he hugged him back. He laughed when Dick pulled away and he was wiping at his face. Clark turned around and grabbed a few napkins off the table behind him. He offered them to Dick who laughed at his own ridiculousness before he finally smiled. "You bet your ass I'm gonna quote that at your wedding," he warned him wiping his nose. 

"Who said you were invited?" He asked and laughed when Dick punched his arm.

-

Clark felt so strangely at ease over the next few weeks that he should have known better than to trust it. Writing was easier than it had been in months. He was flying through chapters so fast that the publishers could hardly keep up with him. 

Jason was getting more and more on board with the idea of his father and Clark together. After Clark had spent the day teaching Tim about taking pictures with the camera he'd gotten him for his birthday-- Jay guiltily admitted to throwing away the typewriter and they had a long talk about it when Clark told him that he knew. He spent the next day teaching Jason how to fix it and replace the ribbon and by the time Bruce got home they had pages full of gibberish spread out on the kitchen table and Tim was laughing as he read the silly poems Jason had come up with aloud to Alfred as he made dinner. 

But the biggest surprise came from Damian. He had been speaking more and more. Not in sentences per se, but bundles of words that almost made sense together. They were getting the boys ready for bed when he started fussing at Bruce as they settled down for their story. 

"No Daddy," he kept saying over and over, neither of them knowing what he really wanted. He was getting so frustrated that by the time he said, "Want Dad!" As he glared at Clark, Bruce almost dropped him. 

Bruce handed him over to Clark with wide eyes, trying to hide his smile so that Damian didn't think he was making light of his feelings. Damian snuggled into Clark's chest, still glaring at the book in front of them, mad they had taken so long. Clark had to take a minute to swallow down the lump in his throat before he could start it.

-

"That was the publisher," Clark told Bruce when he walked back into the office. He'd gotten a call soon after Bruce got home from work, early to get ready for their friends to arrive. 

He closed his computer and gave Clark his full attention. "Well? What did they say?"

Clark had sent them the finished draft of the book two days before, so nervous that Bruce had to hit send on the email for him. "They said it wasn't what they were expecting." He saw the excited light in Bruce's eyes fade a little and grinned. "But they love it." 

Bruce threw a pad of sticky notes at him and Clark laughed. "You ass!" He told him before he couldn't hold in his smile anymore and he met him in front of his desk. He kissed him hard, keeping a hold of his face as he pulled back. "It's a great book, Clark. It's going to be a bestseller." 

"I hope so," he muttered. He grabbed his wrists and pulled so that Bruce had to come back to him. Clark walked him into the desk and pulled him up so he was sitting on it. Tim and Jason were playing a video game in the den and Damian was napping. They had time. "And it's all because of you." Bruce rolled his eyes but Clark kissed him again. "I'm serious," he told him, arms wrapped around his waist. "Without you I'd be in China writing travel guides. You gave me a reason to stay, something to write about… a purpose." He looked between Bruce's eyes, so blue and perfect and warmed by his words. "I love you," he whispered and kissed him again, wishing more than anything that he had that stupid too small ring in his pocket. 

"I love you too," Bruce told him so easily. Like breathing. He leaned in to kiss him again but they heard the door creak and Bruce looked up with surprise. "Diana?" He almost asked and Clark turned around to see her staring between them with a mix of confusion and hurt and anger before she stormed back down the hall and left them in their guilty embrace. 

Bruce rested his head on Clark's shoulder and sighed. He had been dreading telling Diana. Of their friends she was the only one that he was actually worried about. 

"This is going to be great," he mumbled. 

"Maybe I should go-" Clark started, but Bruce held him tighter. He knew that going after her now would only mean anger and shouting. 

"We should give her some time." 

"Are you sure?" Clark asked, but he had already relaxed in Bruce's arms and he knew that he didn't want to go. 

"You know how much she hates surprises. Maybe this is best. She'll have time to adjust before we tell everyone." He smiled as he looked up at Clark. He got a soft look and a kiss. 

When they got down to the kitchen, Alfred told them Diana had retired for the evening. She was tired from her flight. He had just let the Curry's in the gate and Barry and Iris would be arriving within the hour. Bruce went down to the garage to help Arthur unload while Clark went to check on the boys. The rest of the day was chaos and a slowly growing mob of people. After everyone was tucked away in their rooms he went down to the kitchen. Tim was standing in front of the open fridge. He looked over to him and made a despondent noise. 

"Can't decide?" he asked.

"No," Tim whined. 

"What are the choices?" 

"Clark said no soda," Tim said. "But I don't want water."

"How about some of your strawberry juice?" Tim looked up at him like he'd forgotten about it. 

"Yeah!" He grabbed the carton from the top shelf and poured him a glass. Tim thanked him and darted off. He followed after him at a slower pace. He'd barely made it a few steps before the front door opened. He turned and saw Talia stumbling in a gust of snow following after her. He took her bag and shut the door when it blew back. 

"I don't miss the snow," she said as she pulled her hood down. 

"I didn't know you were coming," he said and helped her out of her jacket. She shook her hair out. 

"I didn't know if I'd get done early enough. I hope it's okay," she said. He could see a moment of doubt. 

"Of course it is," he replied. She reached for her bag, but he shooed her up the stairs. She smiled at him as he dragged her bag behind him. "How long are you staying?" he asked when it clattered heavily against the stairs. 

"Only the weekend. I have a job that starts on Monday." 

He took her bag to her room while she went to the boys' room. He stopped in Damian's room. Clark was reading him his book and Damian looked on the verge of sleep. He sat down next to him and looked at the book. 

"Talia is here," he said. 

Clark kept reading, but looked over to him. Damian's head dropped to the pillow. Clark looked down and finished the page he'd been reading before setting the book down. Clark was careful as he extracted himself from under Damian's arm. He pressed a kiss to his head and tucked him in tighter. Bruce smiled and stepped back through the door. 

"I thought she said she couldn't make it," Clark said as he shut the door only leaving a small crack. 

"She got finished early." 

Clark nodded and looked down the hall to the twin's room. "Good. That's good," Clark said. He rubbed his arm. 

"It'll be fine," he reminded him. "She's not going to change her mind after all this time."

"I know that," Clark said. He let out a breath. 

"You're the one that invited her," he added. Clark shot him a look. Maybe that hadn't been the right thing to say. Clark rolled his eyes and headed to the boys' room. Talia was sitting next to Jason while he talked about all the things he had told her on the phone but not yet in person. Tim was in his own bed adding his own parts of the stories. He stepped back out. 

-

Bruce was holding up clothes for Damian to pick when Talia walked in. Damian looked up and smiled before cheering, "Dada!"

Talia looked behind her before she realized that he was calling for her. Damian held his hands up and called, "Dada" again. 

"I guess I'm Dada?" she asked as she picked him up. 

"Apparently. We should correct him, right?" 

Talia smiled down at Damian who was talking up a storm at her. "I think I can be Dada for a while." 

"Damian, which one?" he asked holding up two shirts. 

"Green!" Damian announced. 

He took him just long enough to get him changed before giving him back to Talia. The day was more of the same chaos. All of the kids ran around chasing each other. Dick and Barbara arrived just before dinner. Diana had been avoiding them all day. She went to town with Alfred and Mera to get the last few things they needed for the day. Then joined the others in the den for their movie. Clark had been mid sentence to ask her if she wanted to help with pies when she'd walked out of the room. Clark turned back to the boys, like nothing had happened. 

"Daddy," Damian whined in his lap. He turned his attention back to the hand turkey they were making. He gave Damian the color he wanted and watched him add a tie to his turkey. 

"I didn't know turkeys wore ties," he commented. Damian hummed and kept coloring. He handed him another crayon. Damian wanted to do another as soon as he was done. He put his hand down on the page as Damian traced his fingers carefully. He colored the body while Damian worked on the feathers. Then Damian looked back and smiled. 

"Black," he said and held out his hand. Bruce gave him the crayon. Damian looked behind them again before leaning over the turkey. When he sat back he grabbed the turkey with the tie and set it next to the other. 

"Daddy," he said and pointed to it. 

"Is that me?" he asked. Damian nodded. He looked at the other turkey with thick glasses drawn around its eyes and smiled. "Who is this?" he asked. 

"Dad!" Damian said like he was being silly.

"Hey Clark," he called. Clark stepped over after making sure Jason could take over helping Tim seal the pie edges. "Damian drew us," he said. Damian picked up the page and shoved it at Clark. 

He watched Clark's eyes dart over the turkey and then the emotion that filled his eyes. "Thank you buddy. Should we add them to the gallery?" 

Damian wiggled his way to the ground and took the Daddy turkey from him. He walked over and they hung them on the fridge below the tree he'd drawn a few days before and the tests Tim and Jason had gotten A's on last week. 

Damian put his hands on his hips and looked at them before nodding. 

"We're done, Dad," Jason said. Bruce looked over. Jason was frozen on the stool. His eyes got big and he stuttered out, "I mean Clark," before turning back to the pie. Clark was smiling as he walked over to the boys.

"These look great. You ready to put them in?" 

Bruce watched as Clark helped them put them in the oven. Damian yelled Dada and went running out of the room. Talia stopped and Damian nearly ran into her. He dragged her over to the table and started babbling about turkeys. 

"I think he wants to make you a turkey." Bruce pointed over to the fridge. He got up and Damian climbed into her lap as soon as she sat down. 

"If you want to call me Dad you can," Clark said quietly, Bruce barely heard him when he walked over. 

Jason made a noise, but didn't say anything. He was surprised that Jason was the first of the twins to call him dad directly. He was sure Tim was going to slip up a few times, but he never did. 

He pat Jason's back and crouched to look through the oven window next to Tim. 

"Looks good guys. Why don't you make some turkeys to go with Damian's?" It took Clark volunteering to make one for Damian for the boys to agree. He watched Clark trace the boys hands and settle down to color the outline of Damian's hand before he stepped out. 

Diana looked up when he stepped into the den. She frowned at him. He tilted his head and stepped back out. He waited outside for a few minutes before she stepped out and pulled the door shut behind her. 

"What?" she asked. 

"We need to talk."

"Now you want to talk?" Diana retorted with a cold laugh.

"I know you're upset."

"Good," she said. The look on her face was one he hadn't seen since they were in high school. She looked hurt, but stubbornly refused to let herself feel it. 

"We were going to tell you-" 

"That you're fucking? 

"That's not-" He shook his head. His entire being retaliated against the thought that their relationship could be boiled down to just that. 

"Did you tell Clark about us? Should I warn him that you're going to sneak out and leave him all alone?" 

"Diana-"

"No. I thought that you cared about me. But you don't." She bumped into him as she walked by. 

"Diana," he whispered and caught her wrist. 

"I've always had to share you with him." She pulled her hand away. "I was right there, but all you cared about was him." 

"He's your friend too," he said. 

She laughed. "Because if he wasn't then  _ we _ wouldn't be friends. I knew that. But I don't care anymore." 

She walked up the stairs. He stared after her. She couldn't be right. The three of them had been friends longer than anyone else. Diana had been his friend first, sure. They'd gone to school together after all, but Clark and Diana were close. They were friends. Had it really all been a lie? 

The boys ran by and Clark tapped his wrist before stopping when he saw the expression on his face. 

"You okay?"

He nodded and tried for a smile. He felt more shaken than he had expected. Diana's anger was so much deeper than he had thought. He looked back and saw Talia walking behind them with Damian. "Maybe it's a good thing we have some back up." 

"Your talk didn't go well," Clark asked flatly. 

"No. But tomorrow will go better." 

Clark squeezed his hand when they reached their floor. 

\---

It was cloudy the next day. They had planned to take the kids out to the pier, but with the chance of rain and all the rocking water, everyone felt best that they stayed home. Unfortunately the kids didn't agree. There was only so much to do in the manor and they became restless quickly. While Tim was perfectly content to read in the corner, the rest were loud and cranky and Damian became very upset about all of these people in his usually safe space. Clark, Talia, Dick, and Mera were helping get everything prepped for the big Thanksgiving dinner the next evening when he finally exploded. Bruce had gone to the store with Arthur and Barry to try and find something to appease the kids. Dick was watching Clark take out the turkey's entrails like it was some kind of horror movie and Talia and Mera were debating the need for hard boiled eggs in stuffing when Damian's shout pierced through the Holiday music. Clark looked up immediately as the toddler ran into the kitchen shouting "Dad!" As he looked around the room. His crying stopped just long enough for him to spot Clark and go running into his legs. 

"Hold on buddy," he told him making Damian yell louder as he shuffled with him to the sink so that Clark could wash his hands. He kept wailing until Clark picked him up and stuck Damian on his hip and they turned to silent tears. "You're just tired, huh?" He asked when Damian tucked his head onto Clark's shoulder and calmly watched as Clark talked Dick through the rest of the process, laughing when he gagged. 

"How long has he been doing that?" Clark blinked up at Mera and Talia who had stopped with the dressing to watch them. Talia was smiling at her son who was smiling back even though he didn't want to. Mera just looked confused and a little wary. Her eyes darted down to Damian and back up.

"Oh, um." He thought about it, not sure why he felt so embarrassed all of a sudden. "A month. Maybe a little more?" He asked Talia and she nodded after thinking about it for a minute. 

"It might be two," she offered. "But I don't think it started to be a regular thing until a month ago." 

"And it doesn't bother you?" Mera asked her, surprised. 

Talia made a face. "Why would it bother me?" She asked. "Clark makes a wonderful second father for my children." She shrugged and smirked at Clark. "And as long as he keeps all my boys happy, they have my blessing."

The air shifted in the room. Talia seemed to realize exactly what she had said in what company as soon as it came out and her eyes widened. Mera blinked between the two of them and Dick paused, his hand still deep in the turkey. Alfred was the only one who seemed unaffected. "Blessing as in…" she pointed at Clark. "You and Bruce?"

Talia looked like she wanted to say something to take it back, but then that would be outright lying and they were going to tell them today anyway. He shifted Damian a little higher on his hip and waited for him to settle into his sweater. 

"Yes," he told her with a sigh. Mera's mouth fell open. "We were going to tell everyone tonight," he said. "When the kids were down so we could talk about it." 

"Yeah, no of course," Mera said too quickly, smiling too big. She wiped her hands off on the dish towel on the counter. "I think we could use some mimosas. I'll go grab another bottle of champagne from the cellar." She rushed out of the room. 

"That could have been worse, right?" Dick asked cluelessly. 

Talia sighed and pulled out her phone "I'll call Bruce," she said in apology and left Clark to finish the stuffing one handedly, talking to Damian through it. 

-

Bruce found him about an hour later hiding in Damian's room watching him build a little neighborhood with his blocks. He stepped in the doorway and looked at the state of Clark, sleeves haphazardly rolled and hair starting to curl from running his hands through it too much. Bruce closed the door behind him and sat against the wall with Clark, watching Damian who had no cares in the world. 

"Are you hiding?" He asked softly. 

"No." He shook his head. "I'm strategizing," he offered. Bruce smirked at that and grabbed his hand, pulling it to his lips. "They all know now, right? She told everyone?" Bruce nodded and Clark sighed. 

"I was hoping this would happen in a more controlled setting," Bruce grumbled as Clark pulled him in so he could wrap his arm around him. 

"Talia feels terrible," Clark muttered into the side of his head. Bruce grunted and tucked his head into his shoulder. Clark smiled despite himself. He kissed Bruce again and Damian clapped at it, toddling his way into Bruce's arms. "This is fine. They are our friends. Maybe now that they can sit in it for a while, it'll be easy." Again, Clark should have known better. 

They had pizza for dinner, the kids taking over most of the conversation before they got everyone tucked away and ready for the holiday in the morning. When the kids were finally down, Bruce offered to go with Barry to grab the wine and all of the adults retired to the den. 

Diana was completely frosted over. She was ignoring Clark and only answered Bruce when the others were around. Mera had been tucked next to Arthur since he got back from the store and Iris stayed close by, muttering with her. Clark was glad to have Dick and Barbara to break the tension until Bruce and Barry came back with glasses and a few bottles. He smiled and accepted his glass from Bruce, surprised when he got a quick kiss as well. He sat down next to Clark, sliding under his arm and the conversation at the other end of the room died. He squeezed Bruce's shoulder. 

"So, how long has this…" Barry swallowed and motioned between them. "Been a thing?" 

It sounded good natured enough. Probably better than anyone else would have managed. Clark took that and ran with it. "Since July?" He asked wondering if he should count Smallville. He could see Bruce thinking the same thing and smiled. "But you know, actually Bruce and I da-"

"I'm sorry." Mera shook her head. "I just… we never saw this coming." She looked at her husband who was frowning at her. "We always thought that Bruce and Diana would…" Diana shot her a glare and she stopped mid sentence. "I mean we didn't even know either of you were gay."

"They aren't," Dick said and everyone turned to him. He was still smiling but his eyes were a little hard. "They had wives, and now they have each other. There doesn't have to be a label on it."

"And you're just okay with that?" 

"Babe," Arthur admonished. 

"I'm not saying it like that!" She insisted, cheeks brightening. "But our whole lives you guys have been straight and now… I mean, what are we supposed to tell the kids?"

"Do you have to tell them anything?" Bruce asked, his brow furrowed. "Jason, Tim, and Damian all know and are fine. Nothing has to change for your kids."

"Of course it does," Iris piped up and turned bright red immediately. "We haven't talked to our children about this stuff. If they see the two of you like this, they will have questions."

"Then answer their questions," Clark told her dryly. His stomach knotted at her tone and he couldn't keep up appearances that this was okay. "Curiously isn't a bad thing. Kids can-" 

"No offence, Clark," she said a little shrill. "But you haven't had children for a very long time." 

A few things happened quickly after that, but it all moved slowly as Clark's heart thunked in his chest. Both Dick and Hal hissed out Iris's name. Bruce's hand tightened on Clark's knee, holding his wine so tightly, Clark thought he could break it. Diana dropped her glass of wine and Talia was on her feet, seething with rage. 

"How fucking dare you," she hissed at Iris. 

"Talia…" Clark muttered but she just held her hand up to him, not breaking eye contact. 

"No, I'm going to say this Clark cause you are too fucking nice to do it yourself." It was like all the air had been sucked out of the room and no one could speak or look away. "How dare you sit there and remind this man how much he lost. He is one of your best friends. One of the best men I have ever met, and Bruce and  _ my _ sons are incredibly fortunate to have his love. You should all be ashamed of yourselves. Sitting here and judging them for their happiness just like you judged me. The only one of you who ever stood up for me was Clark. Who has loved Bruce since he was sixteen and  _ still _ pushed him to me so that  _ we  _ might be happy. Clark, who when his children and wife were taken from him, still called me after the divorce. To check in on me and make sure I was okay. Sent care packages to my sons so they knew they were loved even with their family broken. Who still made time for all of you." She glared at them and then shook her head and looked back at them, taking a deep breath, her eyes softening at the sight of them. "I love you," she told Bruce. "You might be the only man I will ever love. I want you to be happy. And I have known our entire relationship that this is what would bring that to you." Then she walked back to her seat and took a large gulp of her wine. "My children deserve to have parents that love them. I am fortunate that they have two fathers who love them as much as I do. If you want to leave, then leave. But I'm not standing for Bruce or Clark hiding who they are to make you comfortable." She pulled out her phone and stood back up. "I'm going to go call my  _ girlfriend, _ " she told the group and stopped to kiss both Bruce and Clark on the cheek. 

Everyone was silent for a minute and Clark's chest tightened into a hard ball. He squeezed Bruce's shoulder and stood up to follow her. "Clark," Bruce muttered, eyes wide. 

He forced a smile. "I'm fine," he told him swallowing. "Just tired," he said softer and walked out, some of the others calling after him. He heard footsteps as he was heading up the stairs and was surprised when a small hand caught him, Diana standing a few steps below. 

Her eyes were wet and her lips were pressed so hard together he could barely see them. "I'm sorry," she breathed and squeezed his hands. He stepped down and she stepped up so that they were on the same level and she hugged him so hard that it was easy to crumble there. 

-

Thanksgiving was awkward and tense at first, but everyone was there in the morning. The kids played. Everyone talked over each other. It was like every holiday they'd had together, maybe with a few more apologies and sudden questions, but the hostile panic from the night before wasn't there. It gave him hope. Diana's quiet congratulations left him speechless. 

After everyone went home, Clark and the boys started acting strange. Damian yelled and ran whenever he saw him. More than once Bruce walked into a room to four sets of eyes staring at him. He ignored it and went about his day. The boys had gone through phases where they pretended to be things, Clark had been watching the James Bond movies with Jason so he was sure they were just playing some elaborate game of secret agent. 

Clark peeked in the door before pushing it open. Bruce rolled his eyes at the grin on his face. 

"You could tell me what game you're playing with my kids," he suggested. "I can keep a secret." 

Clark looked at him and kicked out of his pants before crawling into the bed. "No, I like watching you try to figure it out." He went for a kiss and Bruce turned away. "Aw. Don't be sour," Clark said. Bruce looked over to him and Clark stole a kiss. Bruce huffed, but pulled him back in. "Why do you taste like bubblegum?"

"I was teaching them how to blow bubbles. Damian can keep the gum wad in his mouth now." Bruce hummed and pulled him back in for a kiss. "Tim is dying by the way." Bruce pulled back. "He swallowed his gum again. Jason hummed the bridal hymn after him. I am pretty sure he thought it was the funeral durge though." 

Bruce laughed and couldn't believe how happy Clark looked. He was afraid that Thanksgiving would have put a damper on the happiness they'd been living in, but it was like a switch had flipped in Clark and he was getting closer and closer to the boy he'd first fallen in love with. There were still mornings that were tough, days that were quiet, but even those were better. 

-

He woke up to a kiss on his stomach. He lifted the blanket to look down at Clark who was pressing another kiss next to his belly button. He stretched and Clark looked up. 

"Good morning," Clark said and kissed his hip. 

"Looks like," Bruce said as Clark slowly drew his pajamas down while kissing every spot of skin that was revealed. Clark laughed against his thigh and looked up at him. "I love you," Bruce told him and got the brightest smile before Clark looked down and Bruce's eyes were closing as he sucked him down. He went slow, like this was all he had to do that day. Bruce pet his hair, rubbed his shoulders and tried to stay still under the pressure of Clark's hands holding him in place, but he wanted more, needed more. 

"This not enough?" Clark asked. Bruce's entire body shivered at the raw rasp of his voice and the heat in his eyes. 

"Please," he replied. Clark took him down again and after a few moments that felt like lifetimes a slick finger teased him. He pushed back and Clark pushed in further. It was just as slow, just as devastating. When Clark finally deemed him ready, his mouth was swollen and red. Bruce held onto his neck as he kissed him. Clark pushed his thighs apart and pressed in. His head fell back at the fullness when he stopped. Bruce grabbed his ass and pulled him in further and Clark kissed his neck. Every touch and kiss Clark dropped across his skin felt like love. It felt like devotion. It felt like a promise of this for forever. He was lost in the emotions and the pleasure singing through him. He knew he came early, then again as Clark filled him. He watched through the narrow slit of his eyes as Clark wiped him down and got him back into his pants before he crawled back into the bed. He had barely been awake and this was already the best day he'd had in a long time. 

He rolled over and slid against Clark, who kissed his forehead and set his phone down. "You have somewhere to be?"

"No, but the boys should be up soon," Clark said. "I was hoping to have you to myself a little while longer." 

"You'll have me tonight," Bruce said and pulled Clark down to kiss him. 

He heard the clatter of feet and was grateful that Clark had thought to put clothes back on. He could hear the twins whispering on the other side of the door and Damian's loud words and mumbled sentences. He wiped his thumb over Clark's lip and pushed at an awkward curl. The boys knocked and then the door slowly opened. Jason's head stuck in and he looked at them before smiling and pushing the door the rest of the way open. 

Tim was holding a tray stacked high with pancakes. Jason bent and picked up another tray that had eggs and bacon. Damian was hugging a jug of orange juice and waddled in after his brothers. He took the jug from Damian and pulled him up into the bed as Clark helped the other two get set up. 

"What is this for?" he asked. The pancakes were slightly burnt, a little misshapen, and the best things he'd ever tasted because he knew the boys had made them. It was confirmed when Jason pointed to the smallest pancake sitting on its own plate. 

"Damian made that one." 

"Did you really?" He asked. Damian bounced and yelled 'yup!' They all ate right off the trays. Jason whined about there not being enough syrup, Tim griped about Clark taking all of the bacon. He smiled over to Clark as he teased Tim and took the last slice. 

"I'll share with you," Clark said. He broke the piece, one side clearly smaller than the other. "Here, I'll even give you the big side." 

Tim held his hand out and Clark ate the slice and put the tiny piece in Tim's hand. Jason started laughing as Tim pouted, but he was smiling too through the frown. 

Clark coughed a couple times and Bruce pat his back. Clark smiled at him then looked at the boys. He saw the twins look at each other. Then sit up straight. Damian was still happily munching on a pancake in his lap. 

"Oh! Daddy we have a game we want to play." 

"Okay," he said. "What is it?" 

Jason whispered to Tim who whispered back. "Scavenger hunt," Jason said carefully. 

"Okay. I love scavenger hunts. Are we starting right now?" 

"No!" Jason said. He looked at Clark. 

"We have to get set up first," Tim said. Jason called for Damian and they ran off. Tim ran back in and said, "We'll be right back." 

"I guess we should get dressed," Clark said. 

"Is this what you've been doing the past few weeks?" 

"I don't know what you're talking about," Clark said and kissed his cheek before heading into the bathroom. 

Jason stumbled back into the room and held up an envelope. 

"Your first clue!" 

He opened the envelope and pulled out the picture. It was of Damian holding one of his alphabet blocks high above his head. He flipped it over and read Jason's neatest handwriting. 

"I'm blue and round. When the weather is warm jump on in!" 

He looked up and Jason was gone. The door was wide open. He looked over to Clark. 

"The pond," he said. Clark shrugged, like he didn't know the correct answer. Clark took his hand as they walked down the stairs and out the door in the garage. Titus barked at them as they passed his yard and headed out to the pond. 

"I didn't really feel like I had gotten home until I walked out here with you," Clark told him halfway down the path. "I always forget how beautiful it all is." Bruce looked over and Clark was looking at him. He smiled and kissed him. There was an envelope sticking out underneath a rock like they hadn't been sure how to make it to stay. 

The picture was of the fridge and Jason and Tim's A's. It was from below and Bruce looked back at the picture of Damian and then the grades. "Did Tim take these?" He asked with a smile. 

"Yeah. He's been practicing," Clark said the nudged him. "Read the clue." 

"Fine," he said and flipped over the picture. "Remember when we danced down the haunted avenue?" 

"The kitchen?" he asked. Clark made the same clueless face. 

He took his hand and Clark laughed at his grumpy face and wrapped himself around him. " _ When I walk up main street," _ Clark sang and pulled at him trying to get him to dance. " _ It wasn't the same street. _ " Bruce rolled his eyes and let Clark twirl him up the path. "I miss dancing with you. We should do it more often." 

"Sunday morning dance dates before breakfast," Bruce said with a laugh. 

"Sounds great to me," Clark replied. 

The next envelope was sitting on the counter. He heard giggles and looked at the door and saw a head dart away. He pulled out the next one. It was of the tree house tree. RG and BG were carved into the base. He could barely see Barbara's initials, they were so out of focus. 

"NO DADS ALLOWED." Bruce laughed at the three copies of the sentence. Damian's was gibberish except for the very carefully written Dads. He smiled and looked at Clark. "How hard was this?" 

"Damian just wanted to draw all over everything," Clark said. Bruce didn't need to confirm that he should go to the tree house, there was only one possible answer. 

A tiny barn made of popsicle sticks held the envelope down. He picked it up along with the barn. The inside looked like the Kent's. He looked at Clark, then handed him the barn and opened the envelope. 

The next picture was of Jason's typewriter everything was out of focus except the R. He frowned and looked at Clark again before flipping it over. 

"The home of the  worst BEST two people in the world." He recognized Clark's handwriting and Jason's correcting it. 

"We held hands for the second first time right here," Clark said and took his hand. Bruce squeezed it and looked at the picture in his hand. "You were wearing my letterman." 

"My wrists were cold," he said with a smile. 

He heard the boys running down the hall as they walked into their room. 

Sitting on Jason's typewriter was the next envelope. He pulled it out and smiled. Jason, Tim, Damian and Alfred were all standing on the lawn with their arms held up above their heads like a v. He flipped the picture over to read the clue, but it was blank. He frowned and looked at Clark. 

"I have the next one." Clark pulled out an envelope and handed it to him. He looked up at Clark then down to the envelope. He looked at the pictures and flipped through them before something clicked and he looked at Clark before tearing open the last envelope. It was a picture of Clark holding a piece of paper with 'me?' written on it. His heart jumped in his chest when Clark moved. He looked at the pictures that spelled out Marry Me? And down at Clark as he held their lucky penny out for him with nothing but love in his eyes. 

"Yes," he breathed. Clark's face broke into the biggest smile he'd ever seen and he slid the ring onto his finger. He looked at it and as Clark stood up and hugged him the boys came running into the room. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's all she [we] wrote. Wow, I feel like there are still ten chapters left, but that's it. We're done. And we really hope you enjoyed it! 
> 
> If you like the way we write Superbat, great news-- we have a few more for you to read!
> 
> [When You Love Somebody](https://www.archiveofourown.org/works/16555967), a Superbat Hockey AU. Still on going. We will eventually finish it. 
> 
> [Every Beautiful Thing](https://www.archiveofourown.org/works/21361561), A coming of age story about a boy in a religious family who is in love with his best friend. Handles some deep shit, please read the tags. 
> 
> [While You Can](https://www.archiveofourown.org/works/17142560) The superman of our world has died and Bruce is shocked when one from a new earth comes looking for him in after he hears his name uttered in a nightmare. 
> 
> [Say, Say, Say](https://www.archiveofourown.org/works/13470468), so they were roommates lol. College dorm AU. It was one of our first, so the editing it rough-- but it cuuuute.
> 
> As always, follow us on Twitter so we can be friends and talk about lame things! Also listen to the playlist of sick tunes I made for this fic, both links are in the fic notes below. Thank you so much for reading!! If you like us, force us on your friends. We'll see you next time! ♡♡

**Author's Note:**

> Be our friends and follow DNA and I on twitter at [@PBrubbs](https://twitter.com/PBrubbs) and [@Dnawhite51](https://twitter.com/Dnawhite51). See the process of our day to day writing frustrations and pictures of our dogs. We are very lame and old and we want to talk to you.
> 
> This fic has a playlist that you can listen to [_here_](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2rnel4NYjsMnQogbcEZtj2?si=CWDteywqTbKIGbhG2H8xYg) on Spotify!


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